Correspondence: Heidi Rajamäki, Department of Business and Management, University of Kuopio, PO Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland Tel: +358 44 5844 777 E-mail: hrajamak@hytti.uku.fi

¹is a PhD research student in the Department of Business and Management at University of Kuopio. Her research is a part of TUTKA project which focuses on business development and strategic leadership of science and research-based companies.

Received 28 March 2008; Revised 28 March 2008; Published online 6 May 2008.

Abstract

Biotechnology companies are facing the reality that greater emphasis must be placed on delivering products to markets as companies become increasingly evaluated on their profitability. Potential risks related to markets and technologies have to be evaluated as realistically as possible to avoid mistakes. This paper discusses the features that make biotechnology marketing different from more established industries as well as the key challenges arising from those differences. This paper draws attention to issues that are distinctively important in biotechnology marketing. First, profound technological uncertainty is a key characteristic of biotechnology. Secondly, side effects emerging after the product has been in the market can cause a shutdown of an entire product line or cut down estimated market potential. Thirdly, a biotechnology product's lifecycle can also face premature death due to challenges originating from market uncertainties. A fourth issue is the threat of obsolescence that is high in a market where new innovations are introduced at a rapid rate. A fifth issue is the capability of protecting intellectual property rights. Finally, these challenges make it difficult to estimate the size of a potential market. Controlling these challenges, however, gives a solid base to make a biotechnology company a profitable business.