Abstract
Several studies over the years have paid attention to the entanglement of biomedical research and the multiplicity of expectations for scientific breakthroughs and economic gains. However, science and economy are by no means the only values attributed to the biomedical endeavour in an actual R&D project. In this article, we present an analysis of a case we studied in Finland, in which academic and commercial partners jointly studied minuscule extracellular vesicles (EVs) to develop related technologies and explore their commercialisation potential. Thus, we ask, what is the spectrum of value in biomedical R&D? Our analysis highlights that in the rapidly developing, but still immature, scientific field of EVs, the dominant value of the research project are related to the expansion of future possibilities (e.g., funding and collaborations) and the sustainability of research. The subject of our study is a new domain of biomedicine that is quite unexplored in science and technology studies (STS), and our findings contribute to ongoing discussions on valuation and economies related to biomedical R&D. We focus on the multiplicity of value, and, by doing this, critically discuss the mainstream view emphasising the dominance of commercial value.
Highlights
In this paper, we present a case study on the assumptions of value and value creation (Birch, 2017a; Muniesa, 2017) underpinning biomedical research collaboration in Finland
We study valuation of extracellular vesicles (EVs) and EV research as discourses and practices used by people working within this particular biomedical R&D setting
We focus on concrete items or activities such as collaboration, expertise based on specific craft in laboratory techniques and work, and availability and quality of tissue material and data that the consortium partners considered essential to EV research enduring in a competitive scientific and business environment
Summary
We present a case study on the assumptions of value and value creation (Birch, 2017a; Muniesa, 2017) underpinning biomedical research collaboration in Finland In such collaborations, academic and commercial partners jointly studied extracellular vesicles (EVs), developed related technologies, and explored their commercialisation potential. We are interested in commercial reasoning and value expectations in the public–private partnership mode we study We approach this topic through a specific project setting, and we want to find out whether commercial and economic value creation dominates the objectives of R&D and valuation (see Muniesa, 2017) in the Finnish EV consortium. We conclude our article by discussing our findings in relation to value and valuation
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