Biotechnology Business Research Articles

Identification and Prioritization of Inter-organizational Success Factors in Microbial Biotechnology Firms

Microbial biotechnology companies are among the most important industries in any knowledgebased economy. Governments are eager to develop the microbial biotechnology industry to improve the skill levels of their workforce, to build up the R&D base for the future of their economies, and to prosper as regional hubs in the era of globalization. The development agenda has particular significance in countries that must transform their economies to knowledge-based economies for the future. However, challenges to latecomers in the field are formidable. In this regard, it is important to identify and prioritize the inter-organizational factors which pave the way for their success. Therefore, in the present study, we try to enumerate and prioritize these factors in Iranian microbial biotechnology business. Based on these research goals we develop a research design and discuss our findings. Finally, some directions for future research are suggested.

Syndicate Innovation Venturing: Translating Academic Innovations into Commercial Successes

Innovations that initiate new technology cycles, i.e., radical innovations, bring tremendous value to Society and build for the companies that deploy them sustainable competitive advantages. However, large firms have typically been relatively inefficient at accessing from academia or technology start-ups such technological leaps. Indeed, most multiyear and multimillion dollar academia-industry partnerships have historically not resulted in any acceleration of the rate of deployment of game-changing innovations, which empirically proceeds in 25 year cycles, such as for example the expansion of the scope of the pharmaceutical industry from small molecules to biologics, or, projecting into the future, to siRNA or therapeutic stem cell technologies. Syndicated innovation venturing is a new strategic partnering concept described here that brings together actors from different economic segments in a non zero-sum game as a means to facilitate seed-funding, with the aim to de-risk technologies while reducing initial financial exposures. A case study in the pharmaceutical industry suggests that alleviating this hurdle may provide an appropriate environment to improve the dynamics of academic technology transfer to the commercial phase. By contributing to the de-risking of the creation of novel biotechnology businesses, this novel mechanism could help speed up the commercialization of emerging technologies on a large scale. At a time when knowledge-based firms such as pharmaceutical companies attempt to revisit their innovation models to advance science, in spite of an environment of increasing risk-aversion, such responses could tilt the balance in favor of disruptive products and sustained corporate financial performance by removing common barriers to radical innovation deployment.

Biomedical Technology in Franconia

Medical instrumentation and biotechnology business is developing rapidly in Franconia. The universities of Bayreuth, Erlangen-Nürnberg, and Würzburg hold upper ranks in biomedical extramural funding research. They have a high competence in biomedical research, medical instrumentation, and biotechnology. The association "BioMedTec Franken e.V" has been founded at the beginning of 1999 both to foster the information exchange between universities, industry and politics and to facilitate the establishment of biomedical companies by means of science parks. In the IGZ (Innovation and Foundation Center Nürnberg-Fürth-Erlangen) 4,500 square meters of space are currently shared by 19 novel companies. Since 1985 60 companies in the IGZ had a total turnover of about 74 Mio Euro. The TGZ (Technologie- und Gründerzentrum) in Würzburg provides space for 11 companies. For the specific needs of biomedical technology companies further science parks will be set up in the near future. A science park for medical instrumentation will be founded in Erlangen (IZMP, Innovations- und Gründerzentrum für Medizintechnik und Pharma in der Region Nürnberg, Fürch, Erlangen). Furthermore, a Biomedical Technology Center and a Research Center for Bicompatible Materials are to be founded in Würzburg and Bayreuth, respectively. Several communication platforms (Bayern Innovativ, FORWISS, FTT, KIM, N-TEC-VISIT, TBU, WETTI etc.) allow the transfer of local academic research activities to industrial utilization and open new co-operation possibilities. International pharmaceutical companies (Novartis, Nürnberg; Pharmacia Upjohn, Erlangen) are located in Franconia. Central Franconia represents a national focus for medical instrumentation. The Erlangen settlement of the Medical Engineering Section of Siemens employs 4,500 people including approximately 1,000 employees in the Siemens research center.

Functions and Inter-Relationships of Operating Agencies in Policy Implementation from a Viable System Perspective

Existence of supporting entities and their cohesive operations are important elements in industry development policy undertaken in emerging economies, which are characterized by heavy government interventions and involved many agencies and institutions. One of the models that emphasizes on cohesiveness as a precondition for viability is the viable system model (VSM). In this study, we adopt the VSM in combination with theories of innovation and innovation system as our conceptual framework to describe and explain the functions and relational structure that exist among agencies/institutions and that of the agencies with their environment elements within one policy level system implementation. We select a biotechnology industry development policy for our analysis, the implementation of which has been designated as a strategic vehicle to support the economic development goals of an emerging economy. The findings, which generate a model of the policy-level system implementation, explain the operating agencies’ functions and their inter-relationships. The emergent model provides policy makers and implementers recommendations for improvements, as well as offers future researchers potential for comparison between existing performance of a policy implementation against its expected performance targets. The study concludes that the biotechnology industry development is an effort by the Malaysian government to institutionalize biotechnology businesses and industry. The perspective of systems thinking, in combination with theories of institutionalization, innovation and innovation system, provide important foundations in explaining technology-based industry development. All these findings highlight that the knowledge gain in explaining and interpreting the problem in focus is worthwhile, although the use of VSM as a research tool demands considerable efforts.

English

Enterprises become more and more difficult to maintain success in the highly competitive environment. This is the reason why many enterprises start searching for strategic alliance partners to strengthen their competitive advantage. However, facing a future of uncertainty, choosing the suitable partner of strategic alliance has become a difficult task. Based on data envelopment analysis and heuristic techniques, this study proposes a new systematic approach, which calls alliance candidate selection. The objective of alliance candidate selection is to assist biotech companies to evaluate the operation efficiency and find the best candidate of strategic alliance. Realistic data are collected from biotechnology businesses of Taiwan published stock market. Target company and 19 biotechnology companies for decision making units were collected. This research tries to help target company to find the right alliance partners for future integration. By analysis of alliance candidate selection, the results show that, the predicted benefits of 3 candidates as first priority 4 ones suggested and 10 of the ones not recommended. The results are sound for enterprises to find the future candidates of strategic alliance by many industry peoples. Alliance candidate selection can effectively provide all the essential analysis and recommendations to enterprises, for finding the right candidate of strategic alliance.

The developments in the business models of biotechnology in the Central and Eastern European countries: The example of Estonia

In light of the current debate on the validation of the prevalent business models and trends taking place in the field of biotechnology in developed countries (see here in particular Pisano versus Glick), it is relevant to explore whether, and if so in which form and circumstances, the set arguments hold up and could be complemented by the context prevalent in transition countries. As one of the main concerns for the long-term development in the area relies on Pisano's argument that the sector is moving towards greater fragmentation, the deep analysis of that becomes particularly important in an environment where the very same problems are somewhat rooted in the local policymaking context and business environment. A specific example can be drawn here from the Central and Eastern European countries (CEE). Derived from this, the aim of the current article is to trace the trends in biotechnology business models in one of the rather well-performing CEE countries: Estonia. The article argues that the developments in the business models in Estonia are led by two rather contrary directions, where on the one hand increasing specialization and fragmentation and on the other hand movements towards geographical and institutional convergence can be detected.

A Repository of Intelligence of Industrial Fermentation (RIIF) using Web Enabled Technology

ABSTRACTFermentation biotechnology research is generating an unprecedented flow of unstructured information encapsulating novel process intelligence. The nature of this makes it difficult for leading researchers to quickly acquire early signs of changes or unconventional wisdom which abound in it, a state of scarcity among plenty. In this work, we have developed a structured web based repository of fermentation information. The fermentation information is deposited as Process Intelligence Sheet (PIS), which is an abstraction of the process intelligent behaviour within the upstream, the production and the downstream stages, rather than a large volume of unstructured information. The repository uses TCP/IP communication protocol. All the fermentation process researchers can communicate globally via the central repository. Novel Fermentation Intelligence are submitted to the server using a standard format called Process Information Sheet or Process Intelligence Sheet (PIS) while information are retrieved from the server either as PIS or as Process Intelligence Trend (PIT), elucidating possible emerging trends in procedures. RIIF structure makes an ideal component for the scanning process in Biotechnology Business Intelligence Systems, needed to acquire early signals of emerging trends, procedures, ideas and breakthroughs for guiding the fermentation Research and Development.

Current Status of Plant-Made Vaccines: Challenges and Opportunities

Vaccine plays a very important role in human and domestic animal life for combating infectious diseases. Existing and traditional methods of manufacturing vaccines in bulk to the required level of purity and quality are stretched to capacity and will soon become limiting in vaccine manufacturing. Moreover, traditional method of vaccine production is very expensive and is currently unaffordable by majority of the consumers. Plant-made vaccines (PMVs), on the other hand, offers unique opportunities to reduce cost significantly due to minimal investment requirement, ease and economy of scale-up, lack of risk of contamination with human pathogens, etc. There is a substantial and increasing worldwide demand for vaccines. Specialized plant-based gene-expression technologies are ready to provide an alternative manufacturing platform that can help meet the demand and thus overcome the perceived ―bottleneck‖ in vaccine production; and taken together, these situations make a strong case for commercial development of PMVs. A particularly attractive feature of the PMV is its potential to provide opportunities for both the agricultural sector and the biotechnology business sector simultaneously. Several Plant Biotechnology companies are already actively working in this area and worldwide many PMVs are at different stages of discovery through human clinical trials. PMV is currently an exciting and expanding area of plant biotechnology with great potentials to offer affordable vaccines to underprivileged population of the world. A large variety of host plants and expression systems have already been developed to deliver PMVs. However, there are concerns of low transgene expression, transgene escape, dose optimization and need for minor processing before oral delivery. The current status of achievements, challenges and opportunities will be covered in this review.

Time for a new business model?

In the relatively short history of the biotechnology industry, new business models have emerged every few years. Some have been little more than short-lived marketing or investment-attraction devices, whereas others have had endured as viable options. Given the dramatic changes in the economic climate and potentially the regulations affecting biotechnology, is it time for a new business model? A SHORT HISTORY First there was the FILCO, or fully integrated life science company, business model. This model, employed by some of the first biotechnology companies, positioned firms to capture the revolutionary advances of biotechnology and to build large vertically-integrated companies. Companies like Amgen and Genentech were able to fulfill this endpoint, but many other companies were not so fortunate. Another early model was to improve existing products, rather than to build an entire franchise around discovering and commercializing new ones. This model is exemplified by Alza, which was founded to improve medical treatment through controlled drug delivery and focused on improving existing drugs rather than developing new ones. This same model is still employed today, and shares some similarity with the technology platform business model, where companies focus on developing technologies that can be sold to other R&D firms, rather than independently developing consumer applications. Newer business models did not replace the older ones, but rather enabled new firms to focus on the unique environment in which they were founded. Examples include the hybrid model that combined product development with a technology platform, which could be sold or licensed to others, and the no research, development-only model that as a derivative of the specialty pharmaceutical model, saw newly founded companies buying drug leads off of other companies to complete late-stage clinical trials. These models enabled new firms to meet the respective needs of risk-averse and cash-rich investors. WHERE ARE WE NOW? I've previously written that the global economic crisis has been (and still is) transformative for the biotechnology industry. The aforementioned biotechnology business models rose to prominence in conditions that favored them. For example, the hybrid model emerged in a funding drought and was favored as it enabled companies to build internal revenue streams while still maintaining the possibility to realize the upside of product sales. What are the factors influencing biotechnology companies today? In the United States, beyond the general economic climate there are still unresolved questions about the availability of early stage financing, the ability to recruit foreign workers, and – post-commercialization – data exclusivity, generic biologics and the potential for price controls. Internationally, some nations are still undergoing dramatic economic reorganizations, while others are making significant investments in building biotechnology R&D capacity. So, the question remains: Is the biotechnology industry ready for a new business model, and is there a business model that can accommodate the myriad domestic challenges faced by many countries while addressing the increasing globalization of activities?

Enzon Divests Specialty Business to Sigma-tau

Enzon Pharmaceuticals sold its specialty pharma unit to Italian drug maker, Sigma-tau Group for a total of US$327M in cash plus royalties. Last year the company had attempted to spin off its biotechnology business but this generated interest in the specialty arm.

Asymmetric behaviour of biotechnology business patterns in Spain

Since the end of the 90s there has been an increase in the emergence of biotechnology industries in Spain, partially as a result of growing support from institutionally based infrastructures. Through the use of empirical fieldwork, this study aims to reveal how future prospects are not as optimistic as most Spanish agents perceive. Our conclusions are based on the asymmetric behaviour shown by Spanish biotechnology firms in their business models. This asymmetry is based on the overwhelming dominance of business models centred on low investment, limited R&D expenditure and minor or incremental innovation, whereas the long term–long return model, which prevails in the leading countries in this field, is practically non-existent in the Spanish environment.

Thailand biotech business: Product of the national policy

Thailand's National Biotechnology Policy Framework 2004–2009 acts as a catalyst to enhance industrial productivity and sustainability. Six goals are identified in the national policy framework, of which two are given priority: ‘Kitchen of the World’ and ‘Healthcare Centre of Asia’. The Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI) is creating a positive environment for local and international industries. BOI provides maximum benefit privileges to biotechnology-related investments. Currently, there are 50 new emerging biotechnology companies in Thailand. More than 80 existing businesses have incorporated biotechnology R&D in their work processes. Government agencies and universities provide supporting services to stimulate biotechnology businesses. R&D infrastructures such as Biopark in the expansion phase of Thailand Science Park will be operational in 2010. The National Science and Technology Development Agency, the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, the Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences, and the BOI under the direction of the Ministry of Industry are major agencies committed to strengthening Thailand's competitiveness in biotechnology.

Thailand biotech business: Product of the national policy

Thailand's National Biotechnology Policy Framework 2004–2009 acts as a catalyst to enhance industrial productivity and sustainability. Six goals are identified in the national policy framework, of which two are given priority: ‘Kitchen of the World’ and ‘Healthcare Centre of Asia’. The Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI) is creating a positive environment for local and international industries. BOI provides maximum benefit privileges to biotechnology-related investments. Currently, there are 50 new emerging biotechnology companies in Thailand. More than 80 existing businesses have incorporated biotechnology R&D in their work processes. Government agencies and universities provide supporting services to stimulate biotechnology businesses. R&D infrastructures such as Biopark in the expansion phase of Thailand Science Park will be operational in 2010. The National Science and Technology Development Agency, the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, the Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences, and the BOI under the direction of the Ministry of Industry are major agencies committed to strengthening Thailand's competitiveness in biotechnology.

Best Practices in Biotechnology Business Development

Best Practices in Biotechnology Business DevelopmentYali FriedmanLogos Press, Washington, DC;ISBN: 978 0 9734676 0 4; 2008; 186pp

Biotechnology business models work: Evidence from the pharmaceutical marketplace

A study was undertaken that validates the business models of biotechnology companies that compete in the pharmaceutical marketplace. Strategic alliances, largely with established pharmaceutical companies, have enabled biopharmaceutical companies to obtain revenues prior to achieving their goal of manufacturing and marketing their own products. As a result, despite the generally long lead-times to commercialisation, an increasing number of biopharmaceutical companies are demonstrating financial success in the marketplace, particularly with respect to revenues, at a faster pace than occurred for both the traditional pharmaceutical and the specialty pharmaceutical companies. There were 244 biopharmaceuticals approved for 366 indications from 1982 to 2005, of which 48 per cent of the approvals for both the products and the indications occurred in the period 2001–2005 (representing just 21 per cent of the 24-year period). From 1990 to 2005, the ten largest US biopharmaceutical companies increased their total revenues from $1.1bn to $31.7bn and turned a combined loss of $0.3bn to net income of $6.2bn. During this time-frame the number of US biopharmaceutical companies reporting revenues in excess of $1bn increased from zero to eight.

Biotechnology business models work: Evidence from the pharmaceutical marketplace

Biotechnology business models work: Evidence from the pharmaceutical marketplace

Biotechnology business models work: Evidence from the pharmaceutical marketplace

A study was undertaken that validates the business models of biotechnology companies that compete in the pharmaceutical marketplace. Strategic alliances, largely with established pharmaceutical companies, have enabled biopharmaceutical companies to obtain revenues prior to achieving their goal of manufacturing and marketing their own products. As a result, despite the generally long lead-times to commercialisation, an increasing number of biopharmaceutical companies are demonstrating financial success in the marketplace, particularly with respect to revenues, at a faster pace than occurred for both the traditional pharmaceutical and the specialty pharmaceutical companies. There were 244 biopharmaceuticals approved for 366 indications from 1982 to 2005, of which 48 per cent of the approvals for both the products and the indications occurred in the period 2001–2005 (representing just 21 per cent of the 24-year period). From 1990 to 2005, the ten largest US biopharmaceutical companies increased their total revenues from $1.1bn to $31.7bn and turned a combined loss of $0.3bn to net income of $6.2bn. During this time-frame the number of US biopharmaceutical companies reporting revenues in excess of $1bn increased from zero to eight.

REVIEWS: The business of biotechnology

Industrial microbiology and industrial biotechnology have enormous versatility involving microbes, mammalian cells plants, and animals. It encompasses the microbial production of primary and secondary metabolites and small and large molecules from plants and animals. Amino acids, nucleotides, vitamins, solvents, and organic acids comprise the primary metabolites. Multibillion-dollar markets are involved in the production of amino acids. Fermentative production of vitamins is replacing many synthetic vitamin-production processes. In addition to the multiple reaction sequences of fermentations, microorganisms are extremely useful in carrying out biotransformation processes. Multibillion-dollar markets exist for the medically useful microbial secondary metabolites, i.e., 160 antibiotics and derivatives such as the β-lactam peptide antibiotics, glycopeptides, lipopeptides, polyketides, aminoglycosides, and others. The anti-infective market amounts to 55 billion dollars. Secondary and primary metabolites are of great importance to our health, nutrition, and economics. Enzymatic and cell-based bioconversions are becoming essential to the fine chemical industry, especially for the production of single-isomer intermediates. Microbes also produce hypocholesterolemic agents, enzyme inhibitors, immunosuppressants, and antitumor compounds, some having markets of several billion dollars per year. They also make agriculturally important secondary metabolites such as coccidiostats, animal growth promotants, antihelmintics, and biopesticides. Recombinant DNA technology has served to improve the production of all of the above products. Molecular manipulations have been added to mutational techniques as a means of increasing titers and yields of microbial processes and in discovery of new drugs, but have made a major impact in creating a viable biopharmaceutical industry. This industry has made a fantastic impact in the business world, yielding biopharmaceuticals (recombinant protein drugs, vaccines, and monoclonal antibodies) having markets of many billions of dollars. It also produced a revolution in agriculture and has markedly increased the markets for microbial enzymes. Today, microbiology is a major participant in global industry and will be a major player in the new bioenergy industry, hopefully to replace petroleum within the next 50 years.

Funding intellectual-capital-abundant technology development: empirical evidence from the Finnish biotechnology business

This study takes an interdisciplinary approach to answering the questions of whether and how the intellectual capital (IC) of a company is related to its financial structure. To this end, we consecutively apply factor and regression analyses on a sample of 65 small and medium-sized Finnish biotechnology companies. Based on the results, we find that firms with a well-balanced IC base finance their operations to a larger extent with retained earnings and debt while companies with less well-balanced IC bases revert to other sources of financing, for example, external equity. Utilizing the conventional pecking order theory as a theoretical backdrop on one hand and recent results from its empirical research on the other, we present two alternative rationales behind deviating capital structure choices made by companies with dissimilar IC bases.

Financial accounts reports

Biacore International AB is a supplier of analytical systems that are used to generate data on protein interactions. The data are used to help understand the functionality of the proteins, to understand the role they play in both healthy and diseased states and to help identify and develop drug candidates. Using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology as the basis for detection and monitoring of protein interactions, Biacore has expanded the use of its technology into the food analysis market, providing manufacturers with solutions for determining food quality and safety. However, the company is focusing on drug discovery and development as its prime areas for future growth. Based in Uppsala, Sweden, Biacore has sales locations around the world and sells its products to life science research centres, large pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology businesses. Founded in 1984, the company is listed on the Stockholmsbörsen.