Inter-firm R&D partnering in pharmaceutical biotechnology since 1975: trends, patterns and networks

This paper analyses a large, longitudinal database on inter-firm r&d partnerships formed in the high-tech pharmaceutical biotechnology industry since 1975. Our research indicates an overall growth in the number of annually, newly established r&d partnerships where research partners consistently prefer contractual partnerships to equity-based alliances. In the networks that develop through these r&d partnerships, small, entrepreneurial biotechnological companies take a leading role during the 1980s when biotechnology first became relevant for the pharmaceutical industry. The 1990s, however, show a different pattern with established, large pharmaceutical companies becoming more dominant, acting as nodal players with multiple partnerships with a variety of other companies