Biotechnology entrepreneurial scientists and their collaborations

Inter-institutional scientific collaborations in biotechnology are now known to be the vehicle that drives the industry forward. Since networks of collaborations become crucial for biotechnology research, academic and industrial scientists act as entrepreneurs by expressing dedication to the potential commercial value of their intellectual capital. This paper focuses on the new scientific entrepreneurial spirit in the universities and the industry, and explores possible statistical and descriptive features of entrepreneurial scientists. The core analysis explores the relations between existing scientific collaborations and the scientific and intellectual capital of the scientists as well as the impact of the characteristics of the institution by which they are employed. Some analytical distinctions between various forms of scientific-entrepreneurship are suggested toward the end of the paper. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.