Receptor capacity for biotechnology innovation in Canada /

"Biotechnology innovation and its impact on private sector growth has been an interest of the Canadian federal government for more than 40 years. Despite this perennial interest, the evidence from life science and biotechnology related funding policies and programs, as well as the extent of private sector biotechnology activity, indicates that Canada mostly remains in a 'science and technology push' rather than 'market pull' mode. Public sector investments continue to generate a strong base in the life sciences, stimulating discoveries and generating inventions, training successive generations of students and technical staff, and contributing to respectable achievements in international scientific scholarship. Yet the gap between the research base and expectations of development of commercialisable technologies remains. Many explanations of this gap have been offered, including a culture of risk aversion in Canadian businesses, a lack of direct public investment in early stage innovation, a small domestic venture capital base to bridge the innovation 'valley of death', lack of public procurement strategies for new technology, and weakness in Canadian intellectual property protection. All of these putative causes might contribute to the unchanging nature of the Canadian life science industry in which the positive feedback loops that would build and sustain growth are absent. Among the most important of these is the development of private sector capacity to absorb and exploit the new knowledge arising from inventions and discoveries. This receptor capacity is linked, theoretically and empirically, to a firm's dynamic capabilities to anticipate, monitor, and respond to new knowledge and remain competitive. As described in this policy brief, there are cases in Canadian life science innovation where dynamic capabilities have been cultivated and create desired positive feedback loops for innovation. Policy options are suggested for moving towards regionally focused smart specialisation and greater direct support for ea