The types of scientific information and technologies acquired from university-industry relationships in the Japanese pharmaceutical industry - an empirical study from 1980 to 2012

摘要

This study investigated the types of scientific knowledge and technologies acquired by Japanese pharmaceutical companies through university-industry (U-I) collaboration over a period of 30 years. Although academic research has made significant contributions to new drug discovery, there has been no detailed examination of the types of scientific information and technologies provided by U-I collaboration. This study showed that the most frequently acquired scientific information concerned basic biological mechanisms, followed by medicinal chemistry and pharmacology knowledge. As regards technologies, academic institutions frequently provided drug candidates and lead compounds in addition to research tools and assays. The analysis of time trends for these acquisitions reveals the existence of both: 1) scientific information and technology that were consistently acquired over the 30 years; 2) technologies that were transiently acquired at a particular time period. The implications of these findings for the effective management practice of U-I collaboration in drug discovery and development are discussed.