Collaborations for innovation in the bio-pharmaceutical industry: an exploratory analysis on the role of platform biotech firms

The advent of biotechnology in the late '80s revolutionized the pharmaceutical industry and, in particular, caused a strong division of labour in the innovation process. As a result, the capability to master technological collaborations with external organizations has become a critical success factor for incumbent pharmaceutical firms as well as product biotech firms. This chapter investigates the phenomenon by using a rich and purposively collected empirical basis about the organisational forms (e. g., partnerships, in- and out-licensing, outsourcing, technology purchasing) through which inter-organizational collaborations are put into practice along the phases of the bio-pharmaceutical innovation process, and about the specific role played in these collaborations by platform biotech firms. Results are interpreted by drawing into two relatively novel streams of research in the innovation management literature, dealing with the Open Innovation paradigm and the role of Technical and Scientific Services (TSS).