Sarah E. Frew

India's health biotech sector at a crossroads

Indias home-grown biotech companies must strike a balance between domestic and international markets.

Brazilian health biotech—fostering crosstalk between public and private sectors

Brazil boasts world-class biomedical science, but tension between the public and private sectors hinders progress in health biotech innovation.

Small but tenacious: South Africa's health biotech sector

Despite a challenging business environment, entrepreneurial health biotech companies in South Africa are finding ways to succeed.

Emergence of biopharmaceutical innovators in China, India, Brazil, and South Africa as global competitors and collaborators

Biopharmaceutical innovation has had a profound health and economic impact globally. Developed countries have traditionally been the source of most innovations as well as the destination for the resulting economic and health benefits. As a result, most prior research on this sector has focused on developed countries. This paper seeks to fill the gap in research on emerging markets by analyzing factors that influence innovative activity in the indigenous biopharmaceutical sectors of China, India, Brazil, and South Africa. Using qualitative research methodologies, this paper a) shows how biopharmaceutical innovation is taking place within the entrepreneurial sectors of these emerging markets, b) identifies common challenges that indigenous entrepreneurs face, c) highlights the key role played by the state, and d) reveals that the transition to innovation by companies in the emerging markets is characterized by increased global integration. It suggests that biopharmaceutical innovators in emerging markets are capitalizing on opportunities to participate in the drug development value chain and thus developing capabilities and relationships for competing globally both with and against established companies headquartered in developed countries.

The role of the domestic private sector in developing countries for addressing local health needs

Developing countries can benefit from conducting innovative research and development in science and technology prioritised to their own specific health and development needs. Here, the role of the domestic private sector in utilising its knowledge, expertise, resources and relationships is critical for translating R&D results into tangible health products and services for individuals. We have recently initiated a study to analyse how the domestic health biotechnology sectors of four developing countries - India, China, Brazil and South Africa - address local health needs. In this paper, we introduce the purpose, design and objectives of the study, describe our rationale for undertaking this research and present preliminary results from our analysis of health biotechnology firms in India.