When publications lead to products: the open science conundrum in new product development

This paper examines interdependencies between firms’ activities in the realms of open science and commercial product development. We present a theoretical framework that outlines when a firm’s involvement in academic communities enhances its innovative performance in terms of new products in development. We argue that the disclosure of more, valuable R&D work in quality scholarly publications and collaborations with academic partners positively affect firm innovation. We further hypothesize a differential effect of adopting open science strategies on the innovation type, being more pronounced for radical innovations than for incremental innovations. We empirically analyze a unique panel dataset containing information on the product innovation performance and R&D activities of 160 UK therapeutic biotechnology firms over the period 1998- 2009. Our results from count data models on the number of new products in development provide empirical support for our hypotheses

The impact of the introduction of new recognition criteria for overwork-related cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases: a cross-country comparison

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (CVDs) related to overwork are common in Asia, as is death from overwork, known as karoshi. Japan was the first country in the world to introduce criteria for recognizing overwork-related CVDs in 1961. Taiwan followed Japan in putting in place new policies and then updating these in 2010. We aimed to investigate the effect of introducing the new criteria for recognizing overwork-related CVDs in both countries. We defined the baseline period as the 5 years before launch of the new criteria, then collected data to 5 years after the new criteria. We applied a Poisson regression model to analyze the longitudinal change in rates of overwork-related CVDs before and after, adjusting for indicators of working conditions. Implementation of the new criteria was associated with a 2.58-fold increase in the rate of overwork-related CVDs (p-value < 0.05). However, the examined policy framework in Taiwan still appears to miss a substantial number of cases compared to that are captured by a similar policy framework used to capture overwork-related CVD rates in Japan by a factor of 0.42 (p-value < 0.05). Accordingly, we make a case for enhancements of Taiwan’s system for reporting and recognizing overwork-related diseases and deaths

Anzeige der von den Lehrern des Collegii Carolini in dem Winterhalbjahre von Michaelis 1857 bis Ostern 1858 zu haltenden Vorlesungen und anzustellenden Uebungen

BACKGROUND: The identification of patients with advanced liver fibrosis secondary to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remains challenging. Using non-invasive liver fibrosis tests (NILT) in primary care may permit earlier detection of patients with clinically significant disease for specialist review, and reduce unnecessary referral of patients with mild disease. We constructed an analytical model to assess the clinical and cost differentials of such strategies.METHODS: A probabilistic decisional model simulated a cohort of 1000 NAFLD patients over 1 year from a healthcare payer perspective. Simulations compared standard care (SC) (scenario 1) to: Scenario 2: FIB-4 for all patients followed by Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF) test for patients with indeterminate FIB-4 results; Scenario 3: FIB-4 followed by fibroscan for indeterminate FIB-4; Scenario 4: ELF alone; and Scenario 5: fibroscan alone. Model estimates were derived from the published literature. The primary outcome was cost per case of advanced fibrosis detected.RESULTS: Introduction of NILT increased detection of advanced fibrosis over 1 year by 114, 118, 129 and 137% compared to SC in scenarios 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively with reduction in unnecessary referrals by 85, 78, 71 and 42% respectively. The cost per case of advanced fibrosis (METAVIR ≥F3) detected was £25,543, £8932, £9083, £9487 and £10,351 in scenarios 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Total budget spend was reduced by 25.2, 22.7, 15.1 and 4.0% in Scenarios 2, 3, 4 and 5 compared to £670 K at baseline.CONCLUSION: Our analyses suggest that the use of NILT in primary care can increases early detection of advanced liver fibrosis and reduce unnecessary referral of patients with mild disease and is cost efficient. Adopting a two-tier approach improves resource utilization.</p

How Organizational Structures in Science Shape Spin-Off Firms: The Biochemistry Departments of Berkeley, Stanford, and Ucsf and the Birth of the Biotech Industry

This article examines how the organizational capabilities of academic spin-off firms in new industries are shaped by the organization of the research communities in universities from which these spin-off firms emerge. Contrasting the organization of research in the biochemistry departments of the University of California at Berkeley (Berkeley), Stanford University (Stanford), and the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and key biotech firms spun-off from these departments, this article attempts to explain the central role UCSF scientists played in comparison with their Berkeley and Stanford counterparts, in the formation and development of the biotech industry in the San Francisco region during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is demonstrated how the research environment at UCSF during this period positioned UCSF scientists comparatively well to identify in the context of their research new technological opportunities in therapeutic product markets and pursue these opportunities in the industrial research environment of the biotech industry. Finally, drawing parallels between this study on the role of UCSF in the formation of the San Francisco biotech industry and other studies on the role of Stanford in the formation of the Silicon Valley high-tech electronics industry, this article attempts to infer some general insights into the institutional dynamics that give rise to new science-based industries

The Development of Minich and Cambridge Therapeutic Biotech Firms: A Case Study of Institutional Adaptation

Defying institutional stereotypes which state that the German capitalist model does not support the formation of entrepreneurial high tech industries in technologically disruptive markets, Munich entrepreneurs have succeeded in building up a significant biotech industry since the late 1990s. Using recruitment, citation and financial data this paper contrasts the development of therapeutic biotech firms founded after 1993 in Munich and Cambridge and analyzes how despite their comparative institutional disadvantages, Munich’s biotech firms have been able to develop the capabilities required to deal with a biotech firm’s key organizational challenges. This paper’s findings shed valuable insights on the mechanisms through which entrepreneurs in new industries are able defy national institutional settings that could constrain the development of key organizational capabilities and find alternative institutional paths to sustain the development of their firms

Scientific communities and the birth of new industries: How academic institutions supported the formation of new biotechnology industries in three regions

Defence date: 18 June 2007Examining board: Prof. Colin Crouch, University of Warwick (Supervisor) ; Prof. Neil Fligstein, University of California at Berkeley ; Prof. Francesco Lissoni, Università degli Studi di Brescia/CESPRI-Università Bocconi ; Prof. Rikard Stankiewicz, European University Instituteno abstract availabl

Academic organizations and new industrial fields: Berkeley and Stanford after the rise of biotechnology

The increasing intertwining of academic and commercial research networks has led to fundamental changes in the organization of modern science. Industry links not only affect the professional dynamics within individual scholarly communities but also affect the position of these communities in their broader academic environment. This paper outlines how industry ties open up opportunities for scientific institution builders to strengthen the legitimacy of their fields of scientific enquiry within this environment. How an academic environment shapes efforts by institution-builders to pursue these opportunities is examined in the context of reorganizations in the life sciences at the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University following the rise of biotechnology during the 1980s and 1990s. This study also highlights how different models of technology transfer shaped the organizational structures of the expansionist initiatives pushed through at these two universities by molecular biologists with close industry ties.

Author Correction: The impact of the introduction of new recognition criteria for overwork-related cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases: a cross-country comparison

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