Alliances may Explain the Significant Growth of Biotechnology Companies in the Critical Period 1996-2001?

The biotechnology is a very complex sector and its growth depends on many variables like intellectual properties, venture capital, clusters, public policies, alliances, amongst others. In biotechnology, the complexity surrounding alliances can be observed. The market globalization, the exorbitant costs of R&D and the rapid changes in technology, are arguably in the midst of the principal reasons that push companies to establish alliances. Biotechnology companies use this instrument to develop external features in the search for resources and missing expertise. This chapter sets out to identify whether such alliances in biotechnology companies are an advantage in themselves, sufficient for the acquisition of new capabilities and whether they help the growth of these companies. For this approach, a private database of companies (900 companies including years 1996-2001) in the two most advanced countries in this sector: United States and United Kingdom will be used.