North Atlantic Innovative Relations of Swiss Pharmaceuticals and the Proximities with Regional Biotech Arenas

Abstract

Under the pressure of increased global competition and processes of concentration, the pharmaceutical giants are reorganizing their innovative capacities. Technology and research and development (R&D) play a key role in the competitive strategies of multinational pharmaceutical companies. This article analyzes the interrelation of the far‐reaching but spatially selective international expansion of R&D and technology of a major Swiss pharmaceutical company and its anchoring in regional arenas of innovation. It combines this international technological expansion with a perspective on integrating spatial and social proximities. Multinational corporations (MNCs) tend to locate their R&D activities in regions that are characterized by a richness of knowledge. The structure of inter‐ and intrafirm networks is shaped by the geography of talent. The Swiss pharmaceutical giants made substantial efforts to anchor themselves in regional arenas of innovation, such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, and San Diego. A case study of a pharmaceutical giant's embedding in the biotech arena of San Diego reveals how oligopolistic rivals fight over privileged access to spatially concentrated bases of technology. MNCs attempt to create, complement, and substitute spatial proximity with other types of social proximities, internal as well as external to their own organizations. These efforts contribute to the generation of specific global‐local interfaces in the processes of global scanning, transferring, and generating new pharmaceutical compounds and technologies.

Interdisciplinary research and geography: Overcoming barriers through proximity

“…Thus, "common external structures of collaborative projects" (Dettmann and Brenner 2010, p. 10) resulting from geographical proximity can stimulate the emergence of trustful relations through shared norms and values, repeated exchanges, the possibility of observation and a loss of anonymity (Gössling 2004;Morgan 2004;Storper and Venables 2004). In fact, geographical proximity may be a necessity for some collaborations, as it allows for the creation of specific social relations and social proximity (Zeller 2004). This is in particular likely to be important for collaborations in interdisciplinary research where the participants come from different backgrounds.…”

Partnership approaches in flood risk management: lessons from the Eastern Alps

“…Spatial proximity raises the aspect of physical distances between the different actors [4,5,6,8]. This refers mainly to the aspect of transactions costs (e.g.…”

“…The interaction within co-operations are influenced by the distance or proximity (socially or geographically) between the different involved actors [5]. The concept of proximity is well known in the regional innovation literature [5,6,7,8,9]. In this literature, the term SUR[LPLW\ LV XQGHUVWRRG DV WKH µEHQHILFLDO for the transfer RI NQRZOHGJH ¶ > p. 117).…”

Necessary restructuring or globalization failure? Shifts in regional supplier relations after the merger of the former German Hoechst and French Rhône-Poulenc groups

“…This example shows how firms have different options when generating a reliable production environment and social division of labor. In the language of the proximity school, they may be able to substitute one type of proximity for another in order to overcome problems of uncertainty and enable efficient knowledge circulation in the production chain (Torre and Rallet 2005;Boschma 2005;Zeller 2004). …”

“…The reason is that we are primarily interested in shifts that occur in regional economies, especially linkages between chemical producers and their local supply base. 7 (cognitive proximity) within a particular value chain (Nooteboom 2000;Zeller 2004). In the case of chemical production, spatial proximity makes it easier, for example, to develop longterm production linkages, establish continuous production flows, and regularly adjust routines based on face-to-face contacts.…”