Pharmaceutical emerging markets: technological mapping and innovation networks

Abstract

Traditionally, United States (US) and Europe stand out as pioneers in global pharmaceutical field, dictating the sector dynamics due to their high innovation rates. However, there is a growth of the pharmaceutical emerging markets, especially BRICS, due to increased income, expansion of health systems, and availability of human resources. This paper aimed to carried out a technological mapping and discuss pharmaceutical innovation strategies based on collaborative networks, considering a comparative approach. To this end, a study centered on the collection and statistical treatment of patent data extracted from international banks (WIPO and Derwent) between 1996–2018/2019 was developed. China was the most relevant pharmaceutical emerging market with highest number of patents (90,659) followed by Russia (22,013). The higher number of patents granted to foreigners than to residents, in BRICS, pointed to the great attractiveness of pharmerging regions. The innovation networks showed that emerging markets apply different innovation strategies than the pioneering countries in the pharmaceutical field, giving priority to more partnerships and weaker ties. This paper contributes to direct science, technology, and innovation policies to optimize innovation indexes especially for pharmaceutical emerging market.