Life Sciences in the Netherlands: Growth despite the Tide?

This paper examines the policy program in the Netherlands that aimed to improve the conditions for knowledge valorization in the life sciences. The Netherlands is an interesting case to study because the country hosts one of the largest numbers of newly established firms in the life sciences in the EU, while growth in this segment has remained limited due to a large share of small and vulnerable firms. The target number of newly established firms set in the program could easily be achieved and the program was able to improve the business climate for new firm establishment. However, the program could not improve conditions for growth of new firms because it could not achieve a comprehensive turn in the business climate, due to the short cycle-time of the program (4/5 years). In addition, the program did not take advantage of existing critical mass in the largest cluster or from any other competitive strength of particular clusters. However, regional competitive strength is now increasingly enhanced by regional initiatives.