The Role of Innovation Policies in the Brazilian Health Biotechnology Regime

ABSTRACT

The Brazilian biotechnology health innovation regime can be understood as a phenomenon that results from the co-evolution of scientific, economic, and political factors. In order to analyze this co-evolution process, this article presents empirical evidence regarding the relationship between the public policy rationale devoted to promoting innovation activities and the development of health biotechnology in Brazil. Focusing on the 2002–2010 period, this article analyzes the different roles played by public policy on the development of Brazilian health biotechnology. The article is based on the analysis of two main dimensions: the national research capabilities and the dedicated biotechnology firms in Brazil. In this regard, the main conclusion is that public policies had a significant impact on both dimensions. However, the impact has been erratic and reflects strategic public policy weaknesses.

RESUMEN

El régimen brasileño de innovación en biotecnología para salud humana puede analizarse como el resultado de la co-evolución entre factores científicos, económicos y políticos. Este artículo presenta evidencia empírica sobre la relación entre los fundamentos de las políticas públicas orientadas a promover actividades de innovación y el desarrollo de la biotecnología para salud humana en Brasil en el período 2002–2010. En el trabajo se analizan los diferentes roles que ha cumplido la política pública en el desarrollo de la biotecnología para salud humana en Brasil a partir de dos dimensiones centrales: las capacidades nacionales de investigación y la creación de empresas dedicadas a biotecnología en Brasil. La principal conclusión es que las políticas públicas han tenido un impacto significativo sobre ambas dimensiones. Sin embargo, dicho impacto ha sido errático y en él se reflejan las debilidades estratégicas de las políticas públicas para biotecnología durante el período.

RESUMO

O regime brasileiro de inovação em biotecnologia para saúde humana pode ser entendido como um fenômeno decorrente da co-evolução de fatores científicos, econômicos e políticos. Este artigo apresenta evidências empíricas sobre a relação os fundamentos das políticas públicas orientadas à promoção de atividades de inovação e ao desenvolvimento da biotecnologia no Brasil. Com enfoque no período 2002 a 2010, o artigo analisa os diversos papéis desempenhados pelas políticas públicas no desenvolvimento de biotecnologia brasileira para a saúde humana. O artigo está embasado na análise de duas dimensões: a capacidade nacional de pesquisa e as empresas de biotecnologia no Brasil. A principal conclusão é que as políticas públicas têm impacto significativo nas duas dimensões. No entanto, o impacto é errático e reflete os pontos fracos das estratégias das políticas públicas.

KEYWORDS:

• biotechnology firms
• public policies
• research groups

Notes

¹Industrial, Technology, and Foreign Trade Policy (Ministry of Industrial Development and Trade).

²Action Plan for Science, Technology, and Innovation (Ministry of Science and Technology).

³Biotechnology Development Policy.

⁴Policy of Productive Development.Source: Own elaboration.

Source: Own elaboration.

Source: Own elaboration based on information published by the firms.

Source: Own elaboration based on information published by the firms.

In this article, modern biotechnology is defined as a body of knowledge and a comprehensive set of procedures and technologies that analyses the attributes of the cells allowing the molecules, DNA, and proteins to create or modify products or processes for specific uses with various applications. This definition is based on previous ones, posed by several authors who offer a detailed description of the biotechnology's techniques and procedures. In this regard, see: Fonseca (2009); Orsenigo (1989); Pisano (2006); Hopkins et al. (2007); Arundel and Mintzes (2004).

The concept of “dedicated biotechnology firms” refers to the enterprises whose core business is related to the intensive use or development of modern biotechnologies. About the concept of DBF and its characteristics see: Powell, Koput, & Smith-Doerr (1996); Niosi (2003); Mcmillan, Narin, & Deeds (2000).

See Stinson (2009).

About different national experiences of companies' creation processes and industrial organization in biotech industry, see: Casper (2007) and Patzelt and Brenner (2008).

Understanding the innovation systems or innovation regimes as emergent and self-organized implies that innovation systems (regimes) do not exist “naturally”; they emerge in a specific evolutionary process (Metcalfe, 2003).

The main documents revised are quoted along the paper and referred in the final section. A summary of them is presented in Table 1.

Almost all the criteria to define areas and lines of action to biotech development presented by the PDP were previously set in the PDB. In addition, most of the investment goals proposed by the PDP are the same that were presented in the Action Plan—2007–2010—of the Ministry of Science and Technology (PACTI) (MCT, 2007).

In 2011 a wide biotech survey was conducted that improved the existing information. See: BRBIOTEC-CEBRAP (2011).

About the different methodologies used by the Biominas Foundation and the sample criteria see: Biominas (2001, 2007, and 2009); Fonseca (2009).

In addition, these surveys clearly showed the strong concentration of the Brazilian biotech firms in the Southeast region. Although the geographical concentration is a very relevant aspect of the evolution of global biotech industry as well as specifically in the Brazilian context, for reasons of space, it is not possible to analyze this topic here.

The database was built through the revision of five sources that registered firms that use or develop biotechnology. The five sources are: (i) Firms that received financial support of the Economic Subsidy Program, to develop projects related with biotechnology during the period 2006–2009 (95 firms); (ii) Directory of Science Life Firms (Biominas, 2009) (90 firms); (iii) National Record of Biotechnology Firms 2009, of the ABDI (203 firms); (iv) Directory of the First National Workshop of Innovation in Biotechnology (Encontro Nacional de Inovação Tecnológica em Biotecnologia 2009) (29 firms); (v) Directory of the BiotecSur Project (55 firms). The final database is the result of a case-by-case selection process according to the activities described by each firm. The result is a universe of 334 firms, but after a second revision process it was possible to identify 175 firms that use or produce some kind of biotechnology product or process, and 92 of them classified as dedicated biotech firms. When the identification of firms was completed I built the database, which collected the following information for each case: segment of activity, experience in incubation processes, participation in public innovation support programs, and main products.

The Update Database” (Base Corrente) is available at: http://re.flect.net/http://re.flect.net/http://www.cnpq.br/gpesq/apresentacao.htm.

An extended description of the register mechanism used by the CNPq Directory can be find in Bianchi (2012).

All the keywords used in the research were spelled in Portuguese.

It is worth noting that this result is different from the number of groups identified by Mendonça and Freitas (2008). These authors used another database, the Portal de Inovação do Governo Brasileiro, and identified 2427 groups devoted to biotechnology research. The source used by Mendonça and Freitas was originally built as a tool to link research and knowledge demand. Then, the definition of research groups was different and did not employ the control methods used by the CNPq. Besides, it is difficult to find comparable international indicators, because the available surveys register the research activities conducted by individuals or firms, but not by research groups.

Based on this method I identified nine subareas that represent the research activities in modern biotechnology. It is worth mentioning that not all the keywords used were found in the Database.