Title: The evolution of research and development in the pharmaceutical industry: toward the open innovation model – can pharma reinvent itself?

Authors: Ram Subramanian, Jeffrey H. Toney, C. Jayachandran

Addresses: Management and Information Systems Department, School of Business, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA. ' College of Natural, Applied and Health Sciences, Kean University, 1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083, USA. ' School of Business, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA

Abstract: The global pharmaceutical industry is facing diminishing returns from its massive investment in research and development. This is particularly troublesome because the industry has long enjoyed monopoly rents that come from innovative new drugs. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extant R&D practices in the industry and make a strong case for a shift to the open innovation model. Potential roadblocks to adopting the open innovation model are identified as well as ways to overcome these roadblocks. This conceptual paper makes use of archival R&D and sales data to support its contentions.

Keywords: open innovation; pharmaceutical industry; pharma; diminishing returns; monopoly rents; innovative drugs; new drugs; medicines; roadblocks; sales data; globalisation; business innovation; R&D investment; research and development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2011.037257

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2011 Vol.5 No.1, pp.63 - 74

Published online: 28 Feb 2015 *

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