Towards a Typology of Business Models in the Biotechnology Industry

The purpose of this paper is to identify a selection of key business models - “typology” - applied in the biotechnology industry. The focus is on the differences between traditional/closed or stand-alone business models opposed to open or networked business models.
A number of illustrative case studies and good practices are presented to show that new biotechnology firms are gradually adopting a “best of both worlds” strategy, with both closed business models and open, networked models as a way for gaining access to the market, in close collaboration with large global pharmaceutical companies. The case firms and good practices are taken from a recent country study for Belgium.