Clusters of Innovation and Life Sciences
By Deborah Lazard, Director of Innovation Networking, MSD-México
Premise
We believe that a more competitive Latin America is good for the long term prosperity of the hemisphere and is good for business. In pursuit of this win-win agenda, Merck & Co., Inc., which operates outside of the United States as Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), has initiated an ambitious program to promote competitiveness throughout the region generally, with an initial emphasis on specific projects in the life sciences sectors in Mexico and Brazil. The key to success is focusing on innovation and, more specifically, integrating the academic, private and government sectors to incubate clusters of innovation. Furthermore, we believe that the existence of enabling conditions in which innovation can flourish —rule of law and transparency, respect for intellectual property, efficient and effective regulatory systems, market-based health care reform, open markets and free trade— need to be established for Latin American Governments to deliver on the promise of prosperity for their people. Establishing these conditions will enable countries to use innovation as a platform to improve the health status and standard of living of their citizens while allowing them to compete more effectively in the global marketplace.
Why is MSD involved?
Any country that generates commercially valuable new technology will ensure the protection and enhancement of these assets through the establishment of strong intellectual property rights and the encouragement of free trade. In bringing this skill to Latin America, MSD can play the role of a cost effective catalyst, and by so doing encourage a culture of creativity and innovation in which new ideas can improve the quality of life and well being of the population. Over time, a higher standard of living and increased purchasing power resulting from innovation will help transform the population into more informed patients who will increase their demand for best health services and the most innovative products.
Furthermore, the MSD strategy for growth capitalizes on both our own strong internal research and on our efforts to license promising molecules and compounds from external partners. We believe that Latin America has the potential to discover breakthrough compounds. With its capability and successful track record, MSD can serve as a partner in transforming these compounds into medicines and vaccines that can be commercialized in the global marketplace.
The Strategy: Clusters of Innovation and Life Sciences
For advanced industrial economies, economic growth is inextricably linked to the capacity for innovation. The link between innovation and high living standards has become very apparent to the more successful countries within the developing world. They realize that they cannot compete in a sustainable manner on the basis of low labor costs alone, and they have seen the examples of Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and other countries that have innovated their way to wealth.
The long-term technological productivity of the United States has been traced to the concept of ‘Clusters of Innovation’, defined as geographically close groups of interconnected companies and associated institutions in a particular field, linked by common technologies and skills. Innovation most readily occurs where there is a high level of cooperation and collaboration among geographically concentrated businesses, academia and government. Close ties between companies and local universities and community colleges help to refine the research agenda, train specialized talent, and enable faster deployment of new knowledge. Support from the local government of the cluster region provides critical financing and coordination, as well as a policy framework in which this interaction can take place most effectively.
Around the globe, we have recently seen the emergence of clusters focused on life science technologies. Like information technology, the life sciences have become a platform technology with the potential to positively impact industries across the economic spectrum. Beyond human and animal health, life sciences and biotechnology products have applications in industries as diverse as agriculture, aerospace, environmental remediation and computing. With such a broad potential impact and increasing international competition, the life sciences will become the technological domain of choice for many countries seeking to pursue innovation as the path to economic development.
The Mexican Life Sciences Initiative
Rationale
The World Bank has stated that Mexico urgently needs to improve its competitiveness within the world economy. This is an immediate task that will require active policy intervention in all sectors and sizeable investments in infrastructure and human capital. To be able to compete, Mexico will have to accelerate its transition from an economy based on the exportation of low added value products to one of high added value goods. The foundation of its future productivity and productivity growth will be based on its ability to innovate.
Innovation is more than scientific discovery. Innovation stretches beyond science and technology, and includes all activities involving the discerning of needs and the transformation of knowledge into commercial products, processes, and services. For innovation to flourish the Mexican National Innovation System will need to evolve into a “dynamic network system” with increased internationalization and multiple public-private sector partnerships at the regional, national and cross-border levels that build on the areas of strength of all partners.
MSD is eager to contribute to this effort. The Mexican Life Sciences Initiative has been designed to foster innovation and, more specifically, to integrate the academic, public and private sectors in order to favor the structure of the so-called Clusters of Innovation. In the short term, project goals include fostering the development of a dynamic set of Mexican firms and institutions that become successful international competitors in the biosciences and strengthening linkages between Mexican and US life science institutions by launching new partnerships that improve competitiveness on both sides of the border.
Phase I
The Mexican Life Sciences Initiative was launched in 2003 at the US-Mexico Partnership for Prosperity Summit in San Francisco. Since then, MSD has actively engaged partners and stakeholders in the U.S. and Mexico, including government officials and the academic and scientific communities, to disseminate core innovation messages to key constituencies and catalyze national and regional innovation policy efforts to boost competitiveness and economic growth.
As a first step and with the aid of MSD funding, the US based Council on Competitiveness (COC) developed the study “Promoting Cross Border Innovation: The Mexican Life Sciences Initiative”, which provided an overview of the national policy environment for life sciences in Mexico; regional assessments of the life sciences sector in three Mexican regions and identified potential strategic partnerships with U.S. life sciences clusters. The final report also included recommendations, at the state and national level as well as cross-border, for strengthening life sciences innovation in Mexico.
Ongoing Projects
A - Awards on Innovation in Health and Food
There is a vast amount of innovation generated in the Mexican life sciences academic and private sectors, yet many ground-breaking ideas fail to leave the drawing board and reach the general public. “The Awards on Innovation in Health and Food” were designed to recognize innovation and advances in industry and science and to reward it through improving its chances of commercial success.
The Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), the Science and Technology National Counsel (CONACyT), the Mexico-United States Foundation for Science (FUMEC), the Mexican Foundation for Health (FUNSALUD), INNOVAMEDICA, Sigma Alimentos, the National Academy of Medicine in collaboration with MSD launched the first invitation of the “Awards on Innovation in Health and Food” in 2006.
During this year, the winners in the Vaccines, Diagnostics, New Molecules and Food categories will receive advice and economical support to submit a PCT patent application; support to develop a suitable business plan for their technology; wide diffusion which will include the presentation of their project in national forums for technology transfer; and the opportunity to participate in a mentoring program with international experts.
In doing so, the “Awards on Innovation in Health and Food” attend to some of the most important factors affecting the efficiency of the National Innovation System, like promoting understanding and use of the Intellectual Property System; fostering scientific excellence and addressing the historic gap between academia and industry by developing new research collaborations and partnerships.
B - Regional Workshops
In an effort to lay out a map to guide academic, commercial, and government leaders to develop the Clusters of Innovation, the Council of Competitiveness (U.S.A.), with the aid of MSD funding, has organized, during this year, workshops in three Mexican regions: Monterrey, Mexico City (including Cuernavaca), and Guadalajara.
The purpose of the Regional Workshops is to provide a forum where the government, businesses, academics, and supporting institutions can build partnerships and alliances, as well as sharing new ideas and obtaining consensus on what the political and practical priorities are in order to strengthen a regional innovation platform.
C - The Mexico-San Diego Life Science Initiative
At the federal level and within a number of Mexican regions there is increasing political support as well as public/private investment in the development of globally competitive life sciences clusters. Many regions have excellent universities and research institutes doing high quality research and post-baccalaureate education; many regions have a history of international partnerships involving high-value-added manufacturing capabilities and supplier networks and, increasingly, young professionals and potential investors are recognizing the value of innovation and entrepreneurship to Mexico’s long term global competitiveness.
Under these conditions the innovation aspirations of regions across Mexico can be largely increased if new forms of public/private alliances are made; new kinds of cross disciplinary and cross functional collaborations are developed and early links to appropriate external (often international) partners and investors are established. All of this promises to integrate competencies and resources not yet fully present in Mexico and accelerate the process whereby selected regions become significant “players” in the global life science community.
“The Mexico-San Diego Life Science Initiative”, through its partnership with the UCSD-anchored San Diego Dialogue, will look to contribute to the growth of life science clusters and some early successes in four Mexican regions-Cuernavaca, Guadalajara, Cuernavaca and Irapuato- through the introduction of best practices and key actors as well as the introduction to programs and activities which support innovation and start-up enterprises and the development of sustainable relationships between key innovation forces in the Mexican emerging life science clusters and the San Diego cluster (i.e. scientists, IP specialists, investors, contract researchers, companies seeking partners, etc).
