Full text
| |
| Author(s): |
Vanderleia Radaelli
Total Authors: 1
|
| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Campinas, SP. |
| Institution: | Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Geociências |
| Defense date: | 2012-08-30 |
| Examining board members: |
Sérgio Robles Reis de Queiroz;
André Tosi Furtado;
Claudia Ines Chamas;
Lia Hasenclever;
Sergio Luiz Monteiro Salles Filho
|
| Advisor: | Sérgio Robles Reis de Queiroz |
| Abstract | |
Understanding the complex relationship between scientific knowledge, technological innovation and economic returns is the fundamental challenge for science-based industries, such as the pharmaceutical industry. The competitive advantages gained by the most innovative pharma companies are particularly pronounced" as a result of the greater appropriability and the technological opportunities associated with scientific advances, which are commercially exploited through very large, targeted and systemic Research & Development (R&D) investments. Considering the regulatory requirements and knowledge profile of the pharmaceutical industry, it is virtually impossible for a company to become competitive in the international market solely through reverse engineering. In this context, the purpose of this dissertation was to evaluate the prospects for national pharma companies of securing competitive positions in the pharmaceutical value chain, given their current trajectory and levels of investment in R&D. National companies currently hold a significant segment of the domestic pharmaceutical market, showing increases in market share and revenues, modernization of technologies and expansion of productive capacities. Yet this situation is primarily due to changes in the Brazilian regulatory framework and the passing of the law on generic drugs. The present research, through a diagnostic of the largest national pharma companies, shows that innovation trajectories are still rather incipient and that the majority of in-house R&D laboratories are principally concerned with incremental advances. The successful launch of products in the market is more closely linked to development skills than to pioneering research; skills that, combined with the potential of an expanding market, nevertheless allowed companies to profit and increase their production capacities. While companies are implementing internal R&D efforts, these processes are not sufficiently guided by strategies of innovation and competitiveness. This assessment is corroborated by the fact that these major pharmaceutical companies have not yet launched any innovative products in the international marketplace, where they would encounter the economic incentives for a return on their research investments, nor do their current innovation activities include strategies on cooperations with universities, patenting or assimilation of knowledge generated outside the company's boundaries (AU) | |