Seizing opportunities for markets of discovery: The reconfigurations of value chains in pharmaceutical industry in the global south

Abstract

This article investigates whether Asian countries are becoming more active at the discovery stage, a higher stage of the drug development value chain. We conduct the first quantitative study to investigate these countries positioning in drug discovery activities. For this purpose, we draw on a database containing historical information on more than 61,000 drugs, for the period 1994–2015, and extract and analyse data on the drug discovery events in which a selected group of Asian countries were involved. The results show that these countries are increasingly involved in activities of discovery and that, in some of them, these activities are predominantly conducted on drugs owned by local organisations. Along with this process, markets for discovery are being created, both through sub-contracting and through partnerships among local organisations (for their own drugs) and between local and non-local ones. Second, drawing on the strategies and organisational set-ups adopted in each country, we distinguish a number of profiles regarding the ways competences for markets for discovery are being built. Third, we identify the existence of a strong regional centre of competences, acting as a local–global articulation locus for markets of discovery. These results provide new insights into the ways Asian countries are moving up the drug development value chain and contribute to our understanding of the learning processes underway in different contexts and the variety of configurations resulting from these processes, supporting a discussion on the potential role of policies to further expand markets for discovery.