IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-22-00549.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of innovation on the profitability of the biotech industry

Author

Listed:
  • Camille Loir

    (SKEMA Business School – Université Côte d Azur, France)

  • Bertrand Groslambert

    (SKEMA Business School – Université Côte d Azur, France)

Abstract

Since the 1970s, advances in biotechnology have rarely translated into profitable financial opportunities. The recent breakthrough in immunotherapy seems to have turned the tide and improved the productivity growth. We study the impact of this innovation on the profitability of the biotech industry. Constructing a new dataset of cancer biotech initial public offerings (IPOs) and using recent observations on the probability of success in the drug development process, we find that the median return on equity in the cancer biotech industry has increased from 11 percent to 15 percent. This is a noticeable improvement but it is not yet sufficient to significantly increase the inflow of early stage investors. The financial constraints in this sector are still important.

Suggested Citation

  • Camille Loir & Bertrand Groslambert, 2023. "The impact of innovation on the profitability of the biotech industry," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 43(3), pages 1286-1297.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-22-00549
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2023/Volume43/EB-23-V43-I3-P110.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. DiMasi, Joseph A. & Grabowski, Henry G. & Hansen, Ronald W., 2016. "Innovation in the pharmaceutical industry: New estimates of R&D costs," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 20-33.
    2. Mariana Mazzucato, 2016. "From market fixing to market-creating: a new framework for innovation policy," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 140-156, February.
    3. David E. Fagnan & Jose Maria Fernandez & Andrew W. Lo & Roger M. Stein, 2013. "Can Financial Engineering Cure Cancer?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(3), pages 406-411, May.
    4. Michael Ewens & Charles M. Jones & Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, 2013. "The Price of Diversifiable Risk in Venture Capital and Private Equity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(8), pages 1854-1889.
    5. Cochrane, John H., 2005. "The risk and return of venture capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 3-52, January.
    6. Bronwyn Hall, 2004. "The financing of research and development," Chapters, in: Anthony Bartzokas & Sunil Mani (ed.), Financial Systems, Corporate Investment in Innovation, and Venture Capital, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Edouard Debonneuil & Anne Eyraud-Loisel & Frédéric Planchet, 2018. "Can Pension Funds Partially Manage Longevity Risk by Investing in a Longevity Megafund?," Risks, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-27, July.
    8. Bronwyn H. Hall & Pietro Moncada-Paternò-Castello & Sandro Montresor & Antonio Vezzani, 2016. "Financing constraints, R&D investments and innovative performances: new empirical evidence at the firm level for Europe," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 183-196, April.
    9. Hyytinen, Ari & Toivanen, Otto, 2005. "Do financial constraints hold back innovation and growth?: Evidence on the role of public policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1385-1403, November.
    10. Giaccotto, Carmelo & Golec, Joseph & Vernon, John, 2011. "New estimates of the cost of capital for pharmaceutical firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 526-540, June.
    11. Josh Lerner & Ramana Nanda, 2020. "Venture Capital's Role in Financing Innovation: What We Know and How Much We Still Need to Learn," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 237-261, Summer.
    12. Lazonick, William & Tulum, Öner, 2011. "US biopharmaceutical finance and the sustainability of the biotech business model," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1170-1187.
    13. Hall, Bronwyn H. & Lerner, Josh, 2010. "The Financing of R&D and Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 609-639, Elsevier.
    14. Franco Malerba & Luigi Orsenigo, 2015. "The evolution of the pharmaceutical industry," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(5), pages 664-687, July.
    15. Leonardo Rocha Andrade & Leonardo Q. Cardenas & Fernando Dias Lopes & Fernando P. S. Oliveira & Kaio Cesar Fernandes, 2018. "The Impact of R&D Investments on Performance of Firms in Different Degrees of Proximity to the Technological Frontier," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 38(2), pages 1156-1170.
    16. Alex Coad & Rekha Rao, 2006. "Innovation and market value: a quantile regression analysis," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 15(13), pages 1-10.
    17. Brown, James R. & Martinsson, Gustav & Petersen, Bruce C., 2017. "What promotes R&D? Comparative evidence from around the world," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 447-462.
    18. Kerins, Frank & Smith, Janet Kiholm & Smith, Richard, 2004. "Opportunity Cost of Capital for Venture Capital Investors and Entrepreneurs," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(2), pages 385-405, June.
    19. DiMasi, Joseph A. & Hansen, Ronald W. & Grabowski, Henry G., 2003. "The price of innovation: new estimates of drug development costs," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 151-185, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Serenella Caravella & Francesco Crespi, 2021. "The role of public procurement as innovation lever: evidence from Italian manufacturing firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(7), pages 663-684, October.
    2. Hall, Bronwyn H. & Lerner, Josh, 2010. "The Financing of R&D and Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 609-639, Elsevier.
    3. Mazzucato, Mariana & Semieniuk, Gregor, 2018. "Financing renewable energy: Who is financing what and why it matters," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 8-22.
    4. Lo, Andrew W. & Thakor, Richard T., 2023. "Financial intermediation and the funding of biomedical innovation: A review," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    5. Simona Mateut, 2015. "Subsidies, financial constraints and firm innovative activities in developing economies," Discussion Papers 2015/11, University of Nottingham, Centre for Finance, Credit and Macroeconomics (CFCM).
    6. Silva Filipe & Carreira Carlos, 2017. "Financial Constraints: Do They Matter to Allocate R&D Subsidies?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(4), pages 1-26, October.
    7. William H. Janeway & Ramana Nanda & Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, 2021. "Venture Capital Booms and Start-Up Financing," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 13(1), pages 111-127, November.
    8. Simona Mateut, 2018. "Subsidies, financial constraints and firm innovative activities in emerging economies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 131-162, January.
    9. Knoll, Bodo & Riedel, Nadine & Schwab, Thomas & Todtenhaupt, Maximilian & Voget, Johannes, 2021. "Cross-border effects of R&D tax incentives," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    10. Arisa Djurian & Tomohiro Makino & Yeongjoo Lim & Shintaro Sengoku & Kota Kodama, 2020. "Trends of Business-to-Business Transactions to Develop Innovative Cancer Drugs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-14, July.
    11. Driver, Ciaran & Guedes, Maria João Coelho, 2012. "Research and development, cash flow, agency and governance: UK large companies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(9), pages 1565-1577.
    12. Bettina Becker, 2013. "The Determinants of R&D Investment: A Survey of the Empirical Research," Discussion Paper Series 2013_09, Department of Economics, Loughborough University, revised Sep 2013.
    13. Czarnitzki, Dirk & Giebel, Marek, 2021. "Financial constraints for R&D and innovation: New evidence from a survey experiment," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-084, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    14. Aysun, Uluc, 2020. "Volatility costs of R&D," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    15. Hyuk Chung, 2021. "Adoption and Development of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Technology: Features and Determinants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, January.
    16. Guariglia, Alessandra & Liu, Pei, 2014. "To what extent do financing constraints affect Chinese firms' innovation activities?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 223-240.
    17. Maria Luisa Mancusi & Andrea Vezzulli, 2014. "R&D AND CREDIT RATIONING IN SMEs," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(3), pages 1153-1172, July.
    18. Ch.-M. CHEVALIER, 2018. "Financial constraints of innovative firms and sectoral growth," Documents de Travail de l'Insee - INSEE Working Papers g2018-05, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques.
    19. Marco Mariani & Fabrizia Mealli, 2018. "The Effects of R&D Subsidies to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. Evidence from a Regional Program," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 4(2), pages 249-281, July.
    20. Carlos Alano Soares de Almeida & Jansen Maia Del Corso & Leonardo Andrade Rocha & Wesley Vieira da Silva & Claudimar Pereira da Veiga, 2019. "Innovation and Performance: The Impact of Investments in R&D According to the Different Levels of Productivity of Firms," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(05), pages 1-21, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financing of innovation; Venture capital; Investing; Performance measurement; Asset-backed securities; Simulations; Biotechnology industry; Cost of capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-22-00549. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.