Cooperative and External Corporate Venturing strategies: Survival vectors for Big Pharma

Details

Supervisors

Belleflamme, Paul

Faculty

Louvain School of Management
Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée
Master [120] : ingénieur de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

The pharmaceutical sector faces unprecedented challenges from rapidly evolving market dynamics, a highly regulated environment, diminishing return on R&D investments, and the emergence of new technologies and thus new players. In this highly competitive landscape, currently driven by biotechnology, sustaining a competitive advantage through continuous innovation becomes crucial for industry giants. This study explores the potential of Cooperative and External Corporate Venturing strategies as powerful tools to help them tackle these challenges and foster sustainable growth. Through an in-depth analysis of two interviews with relevant people at GSK Belgium and UCB Belgium and publicly available information on the recent transactions of 13 global pharmaceutical giants, we reveal how open innovation is the key to success and how these giants are using it to actively seek new ways to meet the ever-changing demands of the sector. Our study shows how external collaborations, whether with start-ups, SMEs, large companies or other specialist organisations, provide access to revolutionary products, complementary resources and cutting-edge technologies, including AI, which enable the giants to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. It also shows how Belgium, which appears to be a hub for pharmaceutical research and development, can help the giants in their race to innovate. While the promise of these strategies is evident, we also address the risks and challenges associated with implementing successful collaborations. To mitigate these complexities, we emphasise the role of innovation hunters and the need for a compatible organisational culture to adapt to change.