Alliance‐Driven Governance: Applying a Global Commodity Chains Approach to the U.K. Biotechnology Industry

Abstract

As the economy has globalized, it has also regionalized, which has led to the integration of different spaces across different scales. A number of theories contend that the endogenous assets of these locations provide them with the means to compete in this globalizing economy, especially in relation to knowledge‐based sectors like biotechnology. Among these theories, the cluster concept stands out. However, there is little support for the arguments that local linkages are the central contributors to innovation. Extralocal linkages have also been highlighted, suggesting that other theories that account for these linkages may prove useful in the discussion of knowledge‐based sectors, in general, and biotechnology, in particular. One such theory is the concept of global commodity chains, which explicitly concerns the interconnections within and across different geographic scales. As yet it has seldom been applied to the biotechnology industry. This article uses the approach to explore the U.K. biotechnology industry.

Supply chain of innovation and new product development

“…To achieve the same objectives of collaboration for NPD, in the last ten years companies started purchasing and selling R&D commodities in many industries: for example, this behavior has been identified as one of the main trends in the biopharmaceutical industry (Chiesa and Toletti, 2004;Birch, 2008). This phenomenon lets us argue that, mostly in high-tech industries, a new kind of supply chain is emerging: namely, the supply chain of innovation (SCoI).…”

Network Positions and the Probability of Being Acquired: An Empirical Analysis in the Biopharmaceutical Industry

“…Thus, in recent decades, researchers have observed a large number of acquisitions in the biopharmaceutical industry (Danzon, Epstein and Nicholson, 2007;Higgins and Rodriguez, 2006). This trend is not yet exhausted -a recent IMAP report indicates that, for 2013, there were 615 announced and/or closed Our investigation is based on secondary data collected from the BioWorld database, an online information service providing daily news and analysis, stock indices, company coverage, regulatory and patent reports, and other information in the biopharmaceutical industry (Al-Laham, Amburgey and Bates, 2008;Birch, 2008). We collected data about any possible biopharmaceutical company in the data set from the years 2001-2010.…”

The interaction between inter-firm and interlocking directorate networks on firm's new product development outcomes

“…BioWorld is used in different studies (e.g. Birch, 2008). We retrieved data on NPD from the "Biotech Products" section of the BioWorld database.…”