R&D collaboration as a global competitive tactic —Biotechnology and the ethical pharmaceutical industry

Abstract
In a technology driven industry, emergence of a new technology can trigger changes in the associated market structure and in the nature of competitive forces – changes herein defined as an industry paradigm shift. Biotechnology has precipitated such a paradigm shift in the ethical pharmaceutical industry, and one consequence is a proliferation of R&D collaborations. However, this paradigm shift is occurring at the same time that global competition is intensifying, and biotechnology R&D collaboration has become a tool in the geopolitical strategies of the major industrial nations. Government intervention to promote such collaborations can have deleterious long-term effects, as described earlier for the semiconductor industry. These effects are posed again for biotechnology and the ethical pharmaceutical industry, in the hopes of provoking a dialogue among concerned parties. These issues must be addressed soon, if the competitive position of this industry –as well as governments and universities – is not to be compromised.