Industry Life Cycle, Knowledge Generation

This paper examines the links between the rhythm of knowledge generation, the types of actors involved in knowledge generation and the structure of networks of collaborations in the biotech sector. The analysis departs from all biotechnology patent applications covered by Derwent Biotechnology Abstracts (DBA). In 2001, more than 96,000 patents are reported in DBA, covering 40 intellectual property authorities. First, the number of patent applications is continuously increasing, though the number of radical innovations (new technological arrangements) reaches rapidly a steady state. Second, both the number of actors and the number of collaborations follow a bell shape, thus seeming to positively correlate with the rate of technological change