Patterns of technological innovation in biotech

摘要

Applying theories of innovation to biotech; an analysis of the evolution of three classes of therapeutic biotechnologies.The defining feature of the biotech indus-I try is that it is both closely aligned with advances in basic biological science and also focused on developing medical products to satisfy challenging standards of efficacy, safety, profit and even economic impact. From its inception in the 1970s, there have been high expectations that biotech would generate new classes of biological products for previously untreatable diseases, reverse the declining productivity of the pharmaceutical industry with new approaches to drug discovery and development, and provide returns on investments competitive with those of other technology sectors. Although there are salient success stories in both product development and process improvement, the overall performance of thebiotech industry has been disappointing in terms of generating new products and financial performance.