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In a sector characterised by patenting, direct appropriations and returns from investment, the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) constitutes a radically different public-private and entirely open access approach to pre-competitive research. This paper discusses the significance of findings from the first independent review of the SGC. We argue that the SGC offers a shared knowledge resource for drug discovery which is distinctive from other types of knowledge production and, as such, provides a knowledge infrastructure for the wider scientific community. We distinguish three ways in which this infrastructure functions as a model for investing in, extracting value from, and generating knowledge for the field. Our analysis suggests there is a future for open science models such as the SGC in health research and innovation, but that such models raise a set of challenges over the role of different public and private institutional actors and the way in which value is extracted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions linking social needs with new technologies have continued to be raised but only very recently have they begun to occupy more of the centre-stage in innovation policy debates. In this narrative review, we draw from innovation and health systems literature and thinking to trace and analyse the deployment and uptake of innovative point-of-care testing in the early infant diagnosis of HIV in Zimbabwe, one of 15 UNITAID supported early adopter countries. Following a literature review and discussions with policy-makers in Zimbabwe, we distil key lessons from this implementation context and delineate the implications of our findings for the debates on new technological and socio-economic approaches and the health systems strengthening agenda in low-middle income countries (LMICs). We conclude this article by proposing new avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some industrially advanced developing countries have, in the last decades, built substantial pharmaceutical scientific and industrial capabilities. The more advanced of these countries have built chemical and biological R&D, generic and reverse engineering, and drug discovery capabilities. There have been tremendous barriers to entry but nevertheless a range of imitative approaches have evolved, with some significant scientific, health and industrial advances. Opportunities in India are in part created by the problems of maturity being faced by big pharmaceutical firms in developed countries. Big pharmaceutical firms are searching for novel approaches to retain a high value-added model of innovation for drug development. These difficulties provide opportunities for innovative companies in developing countries. This paper explores the challenges faced under these circumstances by Indian pharmaceutical companies. Are they attempting to 'catch-up' by chasing a failing model of innovation? Do they have an alternative model? Or can they become an important part of a transformed new global model of pharmaceutical innovation? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors reflect on the development of pharmaceutical industry before and after the implementation of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in India. They cite that between 1950s to 1960s the industry has a weak growth due to multinational company subsidiaries while in 1970s it has massive changes because of the government policy. The TRIPS legislation has driven transformations in the industry that lead to global competitiveness.

This paper addresses the question of how Indian pharmaceutical firms have transformed themselves from reverse-engineering firms focused on the domestic market to research-driven firms with global presence. It analyses the crucial and changing role of national, then international, innovation and regulatory policies and their impact on growth, performance and technology evolution of Indian pharmaceutical firms. The paper argues that although public policy increased market turbulence, it also provided new opportunities for firms to expand and build new technology, knowledge and market capabilities. From the 1950s Indian firms have pursued a variety of research, marketing and internationalization strategies to tackle changes prompted by policy, markets and knowledge complexities. The paper traces firm strategies that vary both in time and by firm, and argues that the successful firms have evolved substantively towards knowledge-based strategies. The paper then attempts to identify future directions for strategy, knowledge and markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multinational companies in the life science sector are heavily influenced by government policies and regulations and in turn attempt to influence these actors nationally and internationally. This paper focuses on recent and on-going research, principally on the agro-biotechnology and, to a lesser extent, on the pharmaceutical industries, covering the evolution of policy and regulation in Europe, how policies are influenced by stakeholder pressures and how policy in turn influences company strategies for product development. We focus particularly on new ‘governance’ agendas in Europe and consider the relative impacts of enabling, constraining, discriminating and indiscriminate policies on company strategies as part of our development of an integrated approach to policy and governance. We also consider changes in external operating environments for multinational companies and compare past histories and present pressures on agro-biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. The paper argues, with evidence, that a more enabling and discriminating policy and regulatory environment can achieve public goals more efficiently and effectively, taking account of impacts on innovation, than more blunt policy instruments. This type of environment takes into account the resources and capabilities available to firms and research laboratories rather than relying on broad brush carrot and stick approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the management of agriculture and food-related biotechnology. Issue of firm management; Importance of technology in the operation; Advantage of biotechnology firms.

Examines the status of biotechnology-based innovations in Europe. Applications of biotechnology in agricultural and food-related industries; Existence of revolutionary techno-economic paradigm shifts; Motivations underlying the statements about the revolutionary nature of biotechnology.