A planning model of pharmaceutical research and development

Despite the popular view that pharmaceutical research is a random process, and by inference unplannable, the long-term survival and development of a pharmaceutical company must be based on a steady flow of new products with a full understanding by management of the relationships between research expenditure and the likely revenues they will produce. In this paper is developed a model of the R&D function which uses probabilistic assumptions to compute the expected stream of revenues from a portfolio of projects involving the major development routes from which pharmaceutical products usually arise. The model is based on expected values of market and technical research performance and hence gives expected or indicated sales in the future as output.     

A research and development decision model for pharmaceutical industry: case of China

This paper evaluates prospective technology areas, development strategies, and various innovation resources in China's pharmaceutical sector through the use of a hierarchical decision model. The results indicate that although domestic SMEs are the major preferred innovation alternative, it is followed closely by foreign MNCs. The sensitivity analysis indicates that the effectiveness of policy decisions are influenced by certain high technology areas. Recombinant therapeutic proteins, recombinant vaccines, and monoclonal antibody technologies are identified as the major areas that will influence the priority of innovation resources. The research crafts a research framework to formulate innovation strategies in dealing with the uncertainties of technology development and policy decisions in the biopharmaceutical industry.     

Implementing Lean Sigma in pharmaceutical research and development: a review by practitioners

The authors recount their experience of the implementation of lean thinking and Six Sigma in pharmaceutical development research and development (R&D). Use of Lean Sigma in pharmaceutical manufacturing is widespread and generally noncontentious. Lean Sigma is used successfully to improve the development of new pharmaceutical manufacturing processes. However, the value of the application of lean and Six Sigma ideas to research & development is controversial. Published material is reviewed, and then the methods, tools, barriers and benefits are discussed, with recommendations for implementation of Lean Sigma into an R&D organisation.     

KFAS mechanism of funding research and development: an assessment

This paper assesses mechanisms of funding research projects used by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). KFAS is a leading organization that sponsors research projects in Kuwait and whose endowments come through contributions from private sector companies. The assessment described in the paper relies on time series data covering the period from 1978 to 1996. The analysis shows that KFAS funding of research projects has favored projects in sectors such as agriculture and food resources, and has assigned low priority to prime sectors, such as oil, water, and manufacturing. This reflects a lack of coherence between the organization's R&D activities and the country's socioeconomic plans and needs.     

Does international research and development increase patent output? An analysis of Japanese pharmaceutical firms

Internationalizing research and development is often advocated as a strategy for fostering the development of technological capabilities. Although firms conduct international R&D to tap into knowledge bases that reside in foreign countries, we argue that in order to benefit from international R&D investments firms must already possess research capabilities in underlying or complementary technologies. We examine the international R&D expansion activities, research capabilities, and patent output of 65 Japanese pharmaceutical firms from 1980 to 1991. We find that firms benefit from international R&D only when they possess existing research capabilities in the underlying technologies. In addition to refining our understanding of when international R&D enhances firm innovation, our results integrate asset‐seeking and asset‐based theories of foreign direct investment. Internationalizing R&D to tap into foreign knowledge bases is consistent with asset‐seeking theories of foreign direct investment, while the contingent nature by which firms benefit from international R&D is consistent with asset‐based theories of foreign direct investment and the notion of absorptive capacity. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Budgets for research and development: an empirical study of 69 Swedish firms

Questionnaires were sent out to 124 large Swedish firms, asking how they determined budgets for research and development (R & D) and who decided about the size of these budgets. 94 firms answered and 69 of these undertook R & D.
It was found that, as a rule, firms decide upon individual projects and do not specify in advance a fixed level for the R & D budget. The decision about individual R & D projects and/or the R & D budget was most frequently made by the president of the company.
The implication of our results for various kinds of research on the economics of R & D are discussed.     

Budgets for research and development: an empirical study of 69 Swedish firms

It was found that, as a rule, firms decide upon individual projects and do not specify in advance a fixed level for the R & D budget. The decision about individual R & D projects and/or the R & D budget was most frequently made by the president of the company. The implication of our results for various kinds of research on the economics of R & D are discussed. Questionnaires were sent out to 124 large Swedish firms, asking how they determined budgets for research and development (R & D) and who decided about the size of these budgets. 94 firms answered and 69 of these undertook R & D.     

A company model for research and development

A company model is presented which may be used to assess the effecton future company performance of the level of investment in research and development. A distinctive feature of the model is the postulation of research return curve which relates the available return on potential new capital investments to the amountof capital invested and the size of a research pool. The latter is related to past R & D expenditure. It is shown how the research return curve may be adjusted to represent different types of industry and how a suitable form for this curve may be derived from company records. Examples are given of the use of the model for sensitivity and optimization studies.     

Risk management in public sector research: approach and lessons learned at a national research organization

As the Canadian federal government's main research body and a public sector agency, the National Research Council (NRC) must manage numerous strategic as well as operational risks, including those at the project, program and portfolio levels. Such risks might arise from political and other stakeholder interests, intellectual property ownership and policy, funding structures, public perceptions of science and technology, occupational health and safety, management of highly qualified personnel, availability of receptor capacity for research being undertaken, and unknown markets for very new research areas, to name a few. Varying risk management practices have existed across NRC institutes and programs in the past as a result of the relative autonomy afforded to these groups. In seeking a more systematic approach, driven by both external and internal interests, NRC researched best practices, models and frameworks for risk management. NRC needed an appropriate model and approach for managing risk that could be applied throughout different levels and within the various arenas of its activities. The approach selected is based on the concept of enterprise risk management, allowing NRC to look not only at specific areas of risk but the larger picture – effectively assessing, controlling, exploiting and monitoring risks from all sources that might threaten the achievement of its goals. At the same time, such an approach also ensures that potential opportunities that could facilitate achievement of its goals are not missed. This paper shares some of NRC's findings of its research (including best practices), describes its current framework and approach, as well as some of its challenges.     

Structure of US aquaculture: Developments in politics,organization and research

The author examines the politics of the changing legal and support system for US aquaculture, at federal and state levels. The history of the industry is discussed, and recent investments in research and farming are outlined. It is concluded that sociopolitical conflicts and legal uncertainties have created obstacles to the modernization of the industry.     

A shift to external alliances for product development in the pharmaceutical industry

For a number of years, pharmaceutical companies have been departing from a tradition of strict vertical integration, looking to external sources for at least some of their novel technology and products. The aim of this study was to determine whether (1) this is a long term, industry-wide trend, or (2) merely a temporary or local response to acquire the technical capabilities of the biotechnology revolution of the 1970's, after which, with the new generation of technology in-house, they will revert to primarily in-house innovation. Analysis of secondary data on a representative sample of the fifteen largest drug companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland indicated that between 1977 and 1987, these pharmaceutical companies increased their external R&D alliances nearly six-fold on average. A large and growing proportion of pharmaceutical companies' R&D alliances are formed with biotechnology firms which have proprietary technology, due to financial and innovative pressures. Far from being temporary, this resort to external sources of technology in the pharmaceutical industry follows the trends of the wider industrial world towards functional specialization. Thus, biotechnology companies are increasingly taking on the role of suppliers of innovation.     

新政策背景下国内制药企业新药研发的思考

国内制药企业在新药研发中存在着一些误区,在新的政策背景下,企业应调整研发思路,形成符合自身实力和需求的开发策略.     

Reasons for corporate research and development spin‐outs – the chemical and pharmaceutical industry as example

The spin‐out of research and development (R&D) activities from established companies has increased during recent years. The reasons for realising corporate spin‐outs, especially regarding the involvement of financial investors, were investigated based on 30 European case studies within the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. The reasons can be categorised into two groups: an investment and a divestment rationale. Whereas the chemical industry uses both rationales, there are only divestment cases in the pharmaceutical industry. The investment cases within the chemical industry show that R&D spin‐outs can make an important contribution towards the flexibilisation and performance improvement of a company's internal R&D. The divestment cases show that R&D spin‐outs can be a suitable possibility to continue promising R&D activities. The survival rate of the analysed spin‐outs is high and numerous new jobs have been created in the past years, especially in pharmaceutical spin‐outs.     

APPLE: A dynamic financial simulation of research and development in a technologically based business

This paper describes the present state of development of an abstract, dynamic, financial model of industrial research and development called APPLE. The concept, structure and application of APPLE as a practical tool are presented. The application of APPLE to help strategic planning and to increase understanding of the nature, influence and role of research and development is described.     

New product development process and time-to-market in the generic pharmaceutical industry

Generic pharmaceutical companies tend to improve their market position by being first in the market when a patent on an original product elapses. The time-to-market of new products is an important source of their comparative advantages. In our study we investigate the organizational and managerial factors lying behind time-to-market in four generic pharmaceutical companies in Central and Eastern Europe. Our research also supports some results found in other studies on the lead-time of new product development. However, we find some factors specific to generic pharmaceutical companies. Our findings are incorporated into a diagnostic model of new product development in generic pharmaceutical companies, which is an important practical result of our research.