The Effect of Digitalization on the Commercialization Process of High-Technology Companies in the Life Sciences Industry

This article examines how digitalization influences the commercialization of high technologies in the life sciences industry. It is based on a cross-case study focused on pharmaceutical, medical device, and e-health companies in Finland. Both company representatives and regional stakeholders were interviewed. The findings suggest that “digitalization” needs to be distinguished from “digitization” because both terms seem to be misused or used interchangeably. The findings also show that digitalization led to a concurrent implementation of commercialization processes. Furthermore, the findings revealed that digitalization positively influenced commercialization activities, especially information sourcing and management, various assessments, and official activities, big data creation, and activity routinization. It was also revealed that the creation of new sets of big data and fear of digital attacks are negative influences on digitalization. These findings make a theoretical contribution to the discourses on digitalization and commercialization, but they also provide insights for scientists, engineers, and life science companies.