Into the valley of death: Research to innovation

The phase between research and successful innovation is known as the Valley of Death. The pharma industry and academia are increasingly working together, often encouraged by governments, as they seek to successfully navigate the Valley and bring research to the market. This is consistent with newer models of innovation policy which stress interaction between the different agents across the innovation process. We examine this interaction, in part through several academic research case studies. They suggest that co-operation has been focused on the research stages of innovation and that academia’s return on its IPR is relatively small. Countries are also beginning to use research as a tool of industrial economic policy.