The Decline of Innovation in the Antibiotics Industry and the Global Threat of Antibiotic Resistance: When Entrepreneurial Efforts are Not Enough

Abstract

In this chapter we intend to analyze the worrisome case of the antibiotics industry, as the number of active firms, innovation output and profitability has constantly declined in the last years. With a focus on factors influencing the Entrepreneurial Orientation of firms in this industry, we analyze a number of challenges and environmental contingencies unique to antibiotic innovation and entrepreneurial activity, and discuss currently debated public policy interventions intended to reinvigorate the industry. In doing so we discuss the possibility of enhancing entrepreneurial orientation by acting on the performance side through targeted public interventions such as research grants and market entry rewards. This chapter contributes to innovation and entrepreneurship literature by presenting a unique case of a declining industry, the antibiotics field, which requires public intervention to revive and meet global societal needs to face the threat of antibiotic resistance. This industry-based case analysis presents a number of interesting implications for theory on Entrepreneurial Orientation that also allows the outlining of several avenues for future research.