Innovation strategies of Mexican pharmaceutical firms

Mexican pharmaceutical market is the most important in Latin America and a significant number of global firms have different business activities in this country: production, licensing of patents, alliances with Mexican firms, distribution facilities or partnerships, etc. In terms of innovation, global pharmaceutical industry has passed through structural changes mainly of technological and institutional nature. These changes have been influential along the whole value chain and have triggered transformations in firm's organization, market structure and sector's investments. Mexico's industry, in spite of having a very attractive domestic market, has serious limitations for technology development. Very little resources are invested in R&D and lack of articulation between research labs and industry provoke that Mexico has only exceptional innovation achievements and a high technological dependence. At the same time, some Mexican companies have developed new strategies to be competitive in open markets and have shown that a combination of competitive intelligence, rapid adoption of technologies, collaboration with advanced firms and research institutes, permanent training and continuous improvement are key factors for success. This paper deals with the results of a piece of research aimed at developing a model for the effective transfer of technology for Mexican pharmaceutical firms, with a strong component of knowledge and skills to manage the flows of information, people and technologies among firms, research labs, universities and other health organizations