Correspondence: Mark J. Ahn, Victoria Management School, Victoria University of Wellington, Rutherford House, Thorndon, Wellington 6140, New Zealand. Tel: +1-650-218-7934; E-mail: mark.ahn@vuw.ac.nz

¹is Professor and Chair, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Victoria University of Wellington. Dr Ahn's teaching and research interests include technology-based entrepreneurship, management and innovation in life science industries, strategy-based transformation, leadership and organisational learning, and venture philanthropy. Prior to Victoria, he was founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Hana Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company he led from private to NASDAQ-listed company. Prior to Hana, he served as Vice President, Hematology and corporate officer at Genentech, Inc., as well as positions at Amgen and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Dr Ahn also serves on the Board of Directors of Transmolecular, RXi Pharmaceuticals, and Access Pharmaceuticals.

²is an assistant professor of strategic management, San Francisco State University. He is the founding director of SFSU's Family Business Center, where he serves as chief executive. He teaches the undergraduate and MBA capstone business course, family business courses, business negotiations, business ethics, and management of technology. He is currently engaged in six streams of research: (1) strategic management, (2) entrepreneurship, (3) family business, (4) the wine industry, (5) the bio- and nanotech industries, and (6) higher education. He founded and managed over 25 successful local Bay Area Ventures.

Received 3 August 2007; Revised 3 August 2007; Published online 27 November 2007.

Abstract

The global biopharmaceutical industry, with over $70bn in revenues and 700 publicly listed firms posting double-digit growth in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific in 2006, represents an attractive and promising high-growth industry of the future. Broad scientific advances and commercial successes have captured the attention and aspirations of policy makers, business people, and investors alike in spurring sector growth. An understanding of the fundamental forces that shape the industry, including the challenges faced by entrepreneurs, as well as many promising industry trends, offer several implications for investors and policy makers. This study explores industry dynamics affecting growth patterns, biotech industry cluster evolution in an era of increasing globalisation, and enabling factors which support entrepreneurship activity, productivity, and sustainability. Governments and investors seeking to create and enhance biotech entrepreneurship face several enabling trends including increasing numbers of science graduates worldwide, accelerating pace of scientific advancement, dominating role of globalisation enabling greater collaboration, democratising forces of the internet, and the relentless competitive pressure to innovate. As such, policy agendas should focus on increasing factor conditions to enhance start-up formation, alliances, and skilled employment, rather than attempt to select specific winners and losers among specific sub-sectors or individual firms.