Strategies of biotechnology companies

To identfy the R&D and marketing strategies adopted by by biotechnology firms in the UK, a survey was conducted spanning a range of biotechnology firm size, product, organizational arrangemens. and prior experiences with advanced technology. This was done using a comprehensive questionnaire similar to that used in a comparable investigation in the USA. Twenty-three firms active principally engaged in speciality chemicals human diagnostics and agricultural products.The information from the questionnaires was used to analyse the company strategies under three man headings. These were technology acquisitation,marketing and R&D. Companies were charecterized into three clusters within each of these headings. The means of appropriation for different strategies were then examined although the significance of the results was undermined by the small size. Finally, the relationship between R&D and marketing strategies within the same firms was investigated.