Dynamique de constitution de l'industrie allemande des biotechnologies et diversité des modèles d'entreprise

Disponible en ligne dans Revues.org : http://rei.revues.org/2933The article demonstrates that the German biotechnology industry's birth and growth went along with the succession of three different business models. Based on an analysis of the activity carried out by founders and managers in the beginning phase of their firm, it shows that at each phase of the industry development corresponds a specific start-up ideal-type, comprising technical-economic variables and, mainly, relational variables. The presented results illustrate the structuring role, within the environment, of financial factors as far as entrepreneurial practices are concerned. They point out that these practices are influenced not only by the nature of resources offered by the environment, but also by the access modalities to these resourcesL'article avance que la naissance et le développement de l'industrie allemande des sciences de la vie se sont accompagnés de la succession de trois modèles d'entreprises distincts. A partir d'une analyse de l'activité des fondateurs et des dirigeants au moment du démarrage de leur entreprise, il montre qu'à chacune des trois phases de constitution de l'industrie correspond un idéal-type de start-up spécifique, défini en fonction de variables technico-économiques et, surtout, relationnelles. Ces résultats mettent en lumière le rôle structurant joué, au sein de l'environnement, par les éléments financiers, en matière de pratiques entrepreneuriales. Ils soulignent, en outre, que ces pratiques sont modelées non seulement par la nature, mais aussi par les modalités d'accès à ces ressources financières

How can a cluster policy enhance entrepreneurship? Evidence from the German 'BioRegio' case

International audienceI investigate the mechanisms through which a cluster policy can enhance entrepreneurship defined as new venture creation. The paper is based on the study of a cluster policy ('BioRegio') that strongly simulated new firm creation in biotechnology in Germany after 1996. The process induced by BioRegio at the territory level is analyzed over a ten-year period (1995-2004). I identify a three-step social mechanism through which a cluster policy can enhance entrepreneurship. The presented results strengthen the literature on cluster policies and clusters on the specific issue of entrepreneurship: four main contributions are suggested

The Birth of German Biotechnology Industry: Did Venture Capital run the Show?

The goal of this paper is to point out the role played by private equity investors (venture-capital companies and corporate investors) in the emergence of a new biotechnology industry in Germany in the second half of the 90?s. This analysis takes into account the different business models and business fields to be found in the biotechnology industry. Based on theoretical arguments, a great relevance of VC-companies in financing young innovative biotechnology firms developing health care applications and technology platforms is expected, whereas corporate investors like pharmaceutical and chemical industries should play a more important role in financing supplier companies. Corporate investors are also expected to be significantly present in the equity financing of health care biotechnology companies. Empirical results from descriptive and multivariate analyses confirm all hypotheses but one: surprisingly, corporate investors invested only marginally in the equity funding of biotechnology firms developing new health care products or services. --Start-ups,Biotechnology,Venture Capital,Discrete Choice

The Birth of German Biotechnology Industry – Did Venture Capital run the show?

We answer the questions, how many firms acting in the modern German biotechnology industry are funded by venture capital companies (VCC) as well as equity funded by corporate investors. The theory suggests a high relevance of VCC as venturing partner of high-tech projects. In addition we argue that corporate investors are a venturing partner of firms with high-risk projects to a lower extent.Incumbents,however, are confronted with some opportunities in the low-risk area of the biotechnology industry to secure an optimal supply for the current product pipeline.Our empirical results emphasize a crucial importance of venture capital as financial resource for high-risk projects: whereas 42 percent of all healthcare developer in the early stage are venture-backed firms, only a small share of low-risk projects received venture capital. The results for corporate investors are reversible.Fewer high-tech projects and more low-risk projects compared to VCC are equity financed by corporate investors. The econometric analysis suggests that the observed pattern is mainly driven by the level of project risk and hence, supports all our hypotheses.Biotechnology, Start-ups, Venture Capital, Discrete Choice

Conditions for anti-Zeno effect observation in free-space atomic radiative decay

Frequent measurements can modify the decay of an unstable quantum state with respect to the free dynamics given by Fermi's golden rule. In a landmark article, Nature 405, 546 (2000), Kofman and Kurizki concluded that in quantum decay processes, acceleration of the decay by frequent measurements, called the quantum anti-Zeno effect (AZE), appears to be ubiquitous, while its counterpart, the quantum Zeno effect, is unattainable. However, up to now there have been no experimental observations of the AZE for atomic radiative decay (spontaneous emission) in free space. In this work, making use of analytical results available for hydrogen-like atoms, we find that in free space, only non-electric-dipolar transitions should present an observable AZE, revealing that this effect is consequently much less ubiquitous than first predicted. We then propose an experimental scheme for AZE observation, involving the electric quadrupole transition between D 5/2 and S 1/2 in the heaviest alkali-earth ions Ca + and Sr +. The proposed protocol is based on the STIRAP technique which acts like a dephasing quasi-measurement