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Norrköping, a small urban area formerly dependent upon old labour-intensive industries, has developed a knowledge-based renewal strategy inspired by ideas emanating from its superseded local economy. Using a longitudinal case study, this paper explicates the dynamics of change among a triple helix of university, industry and government actors that involved building consensus within the city and with its neighbouring city of Linköping. The keys to success have been cross-institutional entrepreneurship, aggregating regional and national resources to realize a unique, locally generated strategy rather than adopting the usual list of hot high-tech topics such as information technology, biotechnology or alternative energy, and striking a balance between intra-regional competition and collaboration in order to achieve common objectives and avoid any stasis arising from hyper-competitiveness. This paper utilizes a triple-helix “spaces” framework and makes comparisons with other relevant cases to develop a theoretical model of regional renewal through the hybridization of old and new industrial and knowledge elements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Biopharmaceutical innovation has had a profound health and economic impact globally. Developed countries have traditionally been the source of most innovations as well as the destination for the resulting economic and health benefits. As a result, most prior research on this sector has focused on developed countries. This paper seeks to fill the gap in research on emerging markets by analyzing factors that influence innovative activity in the indigenous biopharmaceutical sectors of China, India, Brazil, and South Africa. Using qualitative research methodologies, this paper a) shows how biopharmaceutical innovation is taking place within the entrepreneurial sectors of these emerging markets, b) identifies common challenges that indigenous entrepreneurs face, c) highlights the key role played by the state, and d) reveals that the transition to innovation by companies in the emerging markets is characterized by increased global integration. It suggests that biopharmaceutical innovators in emerging markets are capitalizing on opportunities to participate in the drug development value chain and thus developing capabilities and relationships for competing globally both with and against established companies headquartered in developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question addressed in this paper is whether and how intermediate developed countries (IDCs) can profit from the possibilities opened by globalisation to set off processes of capability building in advanced technological sectors. While most debates have taken place in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) field, the paper addresses the case of biotechnology. It is argued that, given the specific characteristics of biotechnology, opportunities may emerge for technology-intensive entrepreneurial initiatives in countries that have developed a reasonable science base and built the capacity to connect to and plug into international biotechnology networks. The exploitation of these opportunities requires strategies that combine good indigenous scientific competences and a pool of skilled human resources, with transnational linkages, and that rely on firms' abilities to find a position in globally coordinated 'knowledge value chains'. The paper conducts a first assessment of the viability of this approach, drawing on empirical research on 'distant networking strategies' adopted by Portuguese new biotechnology firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a case study of one of the most intensive biotechnology clusters in Europe, Oxford shire. Its purpose is to examine patterns of development, focusing on the interplay between the characteristics of the industry and its firms, the UK's national innovation system and the locality. It reviews what can be learnt about how this concentration of activity factions by using data from a recently completed study of the Oxford shire biotech industry. It focuses on the rise of entrepreneurial activity, the relationship between growth and the science base, labour markets, milieu effects and formal institutional and physical infrastructural conditions. It concludes that while Oxford shire has marty favourable features its firms are faced with a number of operating problems including the high costs of housing and business property and shortages of skilled people and risk capital. In approach taken, the paper shifts the balance between the conceptualizations of localities as systems of localised networks to localities as systems of material resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of “clusters” has become central to regional economic development strategies, especially in the high-technology and biotechnology industries. Numerous studies have examined the significance of industrial clusters and their components, but comparatively less attention has been directed towards understanding the roots and processes of industrial localization. In particular, emerging biotechnology clusters such as that in San Diego have not drawn adequate scholarly attention given their policy implications with regard to clustering and regional development. Based on in-depth interviews, historical archives and participatory observations, this paper examines how the San Diego biotechnology cluster emerged and grew into an entrepreneurial habitat that has nurtured hundreds of biotechnology companies that have produced a series of innovative products. The author suggests that the regional context of the existence of a number of small biotechnology companies rather than a group of large firms, a continuous flow of talent, and leadership that fosters collaborations have been critical in promoting knowledge creation, circulation and accumulation, which are essential to spawning startups. The regional advantage of San Diego in stimulating entrepreneurship and innovation lies in its edge in creating and exploiting knowledge and practices through its entrepreneurs' robust interactions and participation in local communities of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since there is a mismatch between long-term basic research and short-term financial markets, the dependency of biotechnology (biotech) start-ups on strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies is expanding more than on venture capital. The research objectives are to examine the difference between license-fee elements, try to determine the innovation valuation in strategic partnerships, and minimise the risk in partnership formation for both sides. A key concept is that a biotech start-up is defined as a portfolio of real options based on an entrepreneur's ideas about investment opportunity. Methodologies used are compound options and stochastic optimisation for innovative but risky projects. In conclusion, this paper tries to address a wider scope with a deeper theoretical grounding, by using the real options perspective for the valuation of innovation partnership, through a biotech license-fee case study for simulation. Furthermore, the real option valuation can be expected to improve open innovation from matchmaking to innovation partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biotechnology is a young, but important industry in South Africa. As elsewhere, entrepreneurship is considered crucial to unlocking the growth potential of biotechnology. This paper is novel in that it assesses the first structured attempts in South Africa to equip scientists to build a bridge between the science of biotechnology and the commercialisation of knowledge in this field. Employing case study methods, the bio-entrepreneurship training programme at Cape Biotech is evaluated. The main objective of the programme is to support and facilitate the development of business skills necessary for sustainable biotechnology ventures, and the development of bio-entrepreneurs and future business managers. The programme is evaluated against its objectives from the perspectives of the participants and against the backdrop of their understanding of bio-entrepreneurship, their views on the prospects for South Africa’s biotechnology industry, and their assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of this industry in the Western Cape region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of factors that determine the transition from nascent entrepreneurship to real entrepreneurship is of major importance for policies aiming to stimulate start-ups effectively. Scholars have concentrated mainly on person-specific factors to explain transition probabilities, and environmental characteristics have been relatively neglected. Given that entrepreneurship is a strongly localized phenomenon, this paper argues that regional entrepreneurial opportunities are a driving force behind the transition from nascent entrepreneurship to new venture creation. Based on unique data from 103 nascent entrepreneurs in the German biotechnology industry, we empirically assess the importance of regional entrepreneurial opportunities for transition probabilities. Further, we introduce a new approach to measure nascent entrepreneurship by capturing details of individuals who participate actively in start-up competitions and have won at least one of these. Controlling for technology and individual characteristics, we find strong support for our hypotheses relating to the significant impact of general regional opportunities, specific regional opportunities and the entrepreneurial environment on the probability of transition from award-winning nascent entrepreneurs to real start-ups. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present study was trying to profile the Romanian Biotech Entrepreneur skills, knowledge and competencies adapted to the national environment in the European context. The study is based on a questionnaire survey applied on a panel of 30 Romanian entrepreneurs or top-management persons in the field of biotechnology. The set of 50 questions have covered different topics, respectively the general profile of the respondents and their companies, entrepreneurial profiling from the respondents' point of view or the entrepreneurial societal context. It was concluded that the intervention areas would be the following: much more measures to support young entrepreneurs, less bureaucracy and taxes, changes in work legislation, professionalism in funding agencies, more training opportunities and written guides, changes of the negative society's perception about the entrepreneurship. An important conclusion of the study was that the training, especially the high-education, is an important factor for starting and running a business in the biotech field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I investigate the mechanisms through which a cluster policy can enhance entrepreneurship defined as new venture creation. The paper is based on the study of a cluster policy ('BioRegio') that strongly simulated new firm creation in biotechnology in Germany after 1996. The process induced by BioRegio at the territory level is analyzed over a ten-year period (1995–2004). I identify a three-step social mechanism through which a cluster policy can enhance entrepreneurship. The presented results strengthen the literature on cluster policies and clusters on the specif c issue of entrepreneurship: four main contributions are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I investigate the mechanisms through which a cluster policy can enhance entrepreneurship defi ned as new venture creation. The paper is based on the study of a cluster policy ('BioRegio') that strongly simulated new fi rm creation in biotechnology in Germany after 1996. The process induced by BioRegio at the territory level is analyzed over a ten-year period (1995-2004). I identify a three-step social mechanism through which a cluster policy can enhance entrepreneurship. The presented results strengthen the literature on cluster policies and clusters on the specifi c issue of entrepreneurship: four main contributions are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the role of inter-organisational trust in pharmaceutical biotechnology, an industry characterised by a strong dual market structure. Our main finding is that repeated ties in pairs of large pharmaceutical companies and small, entrepreneurial biotechnology firms, which indicate inter-organisational trust, have a negative effect on subsequent partnering. An explanation for this result is found in specific conditions for R&D partnering in this high-technology dual market structure. Partnerships between a small number of very large companies and a large group of dependent small companies are not characterised by mutual dependence and inter-organisational trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper updates to 2006 material first gathered in the late 1990s. Though Germany has about the same number of firms as the UK its biotechnology economy is far weaker, with many small firms employing few people, relatively low venture capital investment and little interest being shown by pharmaceuticals companies in licensing intellectual property. The reverse is the case in the UK even though the investor euphoria at the time of the first comparative study has not returned. A new policy of 'entrepreneurship outsourcing' has become visible in the UK as venture capital perceives a better business climate for biotechnology entrepreneurship in the USA. Recent developments of this kind may add to debilitating European problems, loosening more proximate links within national and regional innovation systems widely perceived as highly important elements in biotechnology cluster performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses venture capitalists' (VCs) selection process in biotechnology ventures. Biotech ventures operate in an extremely risky environment making this an interesting research setting. The majority of venture capitalists exclude certain biotech sectors ex-ante because of regulatory uncertainty, the long development process to a market-ready product and the difficulty to understand the technology. The more thorough due diligence process focuses on financial, market and technology criteria. Management team capabilities are more important for later stage investors, whereas early stage investors expect to have an impact on the future recruiting of professional managers. Despite the higher risk of biotech investments, we find no evidence that VCs require higher hurdle rates or more complete contracts for these investments, compared to investments in other technology-based companies. The most important reason for not reaching an investment agreement is disagreement over valuation, due to large differences in risk perception between entrepreneurs and venture capitalists and the lack of a standard valuation tool for biotech projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The authors have developed an educational model that operates at the undergraduate level and aims to produce graduates who can comfortably operate in the gulf between the laboratory bench and the commercial marketplace. The purpose of the paper is to describe the course, approaches, activities and initial outcomes of the Bachelor of Biotechnology Innovation course at Queensland University of Technology. Design/methodology/approach - Students undertake "hard science" subjects and business subjects on entrepreneurship, innovation and market development. Synthesis of these disparate disciplines is driven through formation of virtual companies that serve to contextualize subject content and provide start-up company experience across the four-year course. Student companies design biotechnology products and processes and can progress their product through initial research and development phases or undertake an industry-based internship working as a team on initial concept projects. This focused, team-based approach to learning is contrary to traditional science courses that focus on the individual. Findings - Outcomes include graduates of high quality that have moved into positions associated with commercialization and technology transfer where previously a PhD and MBA were required qualifications. Other measures of course success include acceptance and promotion of the new course by business, academia and government. Originality/value - Postgraduate courses provide the most common pathway for assisted self-development of entrepreneurial skills in science and engineering graduates. In contrast, this model aims to train entrepreneurs in technological disciplines at an undergraduate level in a framework where innovation and enterprising behaviour are embedded in the fabric of the degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a challenge to the idea of what some scholars have called the entrepreneurial university. By applying and elaborating on Thomas Gieryn's concept of boundary work, it offers evidence to the effect that developing an entrepreneurial university is not as straightforward as it may seem from a more generalized perspective. Developing such an entity, at least in the confines of traditional, public-funded universities, is complicated by the emergence of a boundary between public and private activities. This study focuses on a potential hybrid research group: an academic group that sought to fuse its research with potential business activity within an ordinary university department. Controversies over four distinct issues arose: 1) the bureaucratic authority of a department chairman, 2) the allocation of teaching loads, 3) the ownership of research tools and materials and 4) the intellectual property rights of the researchers. Ultimately, the controversy was resolved through a formal written contract that established two boundaries: a border between the social roles of university researchers and those of private entrepreneurs, and a physical separation of the work done by academic projects from that of corporate development. As a result, the hybrid research group/ firm was 'purified' into a private entity with no direct ties to the university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]