Global Innovation Networks in the pharmaceutical Industry: evolution of pharmaceutical R&D and impact on innovation processes

Over the past 50 years, R&D in the pharmaceutical industry has been subject to drastic changes. While previously companies were vertically integrated and applied closed R&D models, nowadays pharmaceutical businesses implement open innovation strategies as part of their R&D efforts. In particular, recent literature has identified that pharmaceutical companies are embedded at an international level in Global Innovation Networks, globally organized networks of firm and non-firm actors engaged in knowledge production and resulting in innovation development. The aim of this thesis is to analyse global innovation networks in the context of the pharmaceutical industry, to understand how R&D has evolved and the impact that open innovation models have on innovation dynamics in the sector. In this regard, the research question is the following: how do Global Innovation Networks impact and reshape innovation dynamics in the pharmaceutical industry?. To address this question, the study first conducts a literature review to develop a theoretical understanding of the emergence and structure of Global Innovation Networks within the sector. In the second part, I employed interviews and secondary data to present 4 different case studies, each highlighting distinct aspects of innovation dynamics in the pharmaceutical sector. The findings confirm that pharmaceutical companies are increasingly relying on international partnerships to innovate. These partnerships may involve different types of business and non-business actors across geographic region, including emerging economies. The research concluded that the establishment of Global Innovation Networks in the pharmaceutical industry has a positive impact on firms’ innovation performance.