Jorge Niosi, PhD
Professor, Department of management and technology,
Canada research chair on the management of technology
University of Quebec at Montreal
Niosi.jorge@uqam.ca
And
JingYuan Zhao, PhD
Research associate
Canada Research Chair on the management of technology
A presentation to the
73rd International Atlantic Economic Conference
Istanbul Turkey, March 28-31, 2012
Abstract
Biotechnology is becoming the scientific basis for the development of new drugs. In the last thirty years some 130 new drugs, starting with recombinant insulin, where developed using biotechnology. Most of them (almost 80%) were developed in the United States, and the other in Western Europe. The biopharmaceutical market was estimated at $40 billion in 2009, and keeps growing at 20% per year and more. Many of these new drugs have lost their patent protection, and they are now being manufactured in such countries as Canada, Germany, Israel, and Switzerland, but also in Argentina, Brazil, China, India, and Korea. Who will dominate the biosimilar market in the years to come is a major development issue. Today, the fact that the United States has no clear legislation on biosimilar drugs is a hurdle in the development of the new biopharmaceutical industry in emerging countries. But emerging country markets (China in the first place, but also India, and Mercosur in Latin America) are growing very fast, and represent opportunities for companies based in these countries to produce and commercialise biosimilar products. Our research tries to assess the importance of the production of biosimilar products in these five emerging countries, as well as national strategies to support these companies. It also tries to find out whether biosimilar producers based in more advanced nations are able to restrain the diffusion of the technology and control the new market. It uses publication and patents, but also company information, as sources of quantitative data.