Internationalization and Technological Leapfrogging in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Posted: 13 Apr 2009

See all articles by Suma Athreye

Suma Athreye

Brunel University London - Brunel Business School

Andrew Godley

University of Reading

Date Written: April 2009

Abstract

Internationalization is a useful strategy for gaining firm-specific technological advantages especially during periods of technological discontinuity as the pharmaceutical industry illustrates. The antibiotics revolution in the 1940s saw laggard US firms scrambling to gain capabilities in antibiotics. The possibilities of non-chemical routes to new drug discovery in the 1990s saw Indian generic drug manufacturers attempting to develop new drug discovery capabilities. This article compares the leapfrogging strategies adopted by US and Indian firms and shows that in both periods internationalization strategies were central to the technological strategies of both groups of firms.

Suggested Citation

Athreye, Suma S. and Godley, Andrew, Internationalization and Technological Leapfrogging in the Pharmaceutical Industry (April 2009). Industrial and Corporate Change, Vol. 18, Issue 2, pp. 295-323, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1372566 or http://dx.doi.org/dtp002

Suma S. Athreye (Contact Author)

Brunel University London - Brunel Business School ( email )

Kingston Lane
Eastern Gateway Building
Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 3PH
United Kingdom

Andrew Godley

University of Reading ( email )

Whiteknights
Reading, Berkshire RG6 6AH
United Kingdom

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