Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of collaborative forms employed to enhance knowledge production and technology transfer. A case method approach was utilized to study the context, dynamics, and strategies utilized by Global Diversified Healthcare Company (GDHC) with its academic research partners in the context of a government regulatory agency. The study was framed by concepts of competitive advantage due to knowledge acquisition -- an extension of the resource -based view of the firm (Barney, 1991) -- and of a "triple-helix" of innovation between the academy, government, and industry (Etzkowitz, 2003). The study reveals significant collaborations between the corporate and academic sectors, promoted indirectly by the government sector on two fronts: funding initiatives on the “front end” basic and applied research, and regulatory initiatives on the “back end” intended to promote public safety, reliability, and efficacy.

The results show that formation of Centers of Excellence (COE) has been used by GDHC to increase the quality of its commercialized products, while reducing development time and avoiding regulatory issues. The COEs provide expertise on a particular disease state, access to sample banks, and a laboratory that can evaluate assays and protocols to improve them before development. Clinicians and laboratorians in the COE partner with GDHC managing scientists and business managers to fulfill projects, participate in presentations and publications, and promote potential new biomarkers. The COEs prove to be effective gap-spanners between basic and applied research in academic settings and the applied research in the GDHC.

This study lays the groundwork for future research across the commercialization process, from basic and applied research, to development, to manufacturing. Knowledge production and transfers across these gaps can be explored in a variety of science and technology contexts.