Services sector in the biotechnology firms of South America: a focus in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay

Abstract

This paper is about a specific type of knowledge intensive business services (KIBS), namely R&D services sector in biotechnology, and their growth in four Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. Like other emerging and developing countries, these countries in the Southern Cone are slowly adopting biotechnology. Many dedicated biotechnology firms (DBFs) are already providing services in the region, from R&D to bioinformatics, to gene identification and stem cell databank storage services. The tendency of DBFs in Latin America is to provide services. The objective of this paper is to identify many of those firms that are dedicated to provide services in biotechnology. The present work that in spite of low public support, biotechnology services in the region are growing, even if this growth is well under the needs and potential of the region.