Biotechnology research in Venezuela: Five case studies

The organization of biotechnology differs across countries. The structure of the industry, the academia, and the links between these two sectors vary according to which country is studied. Biotechnology is organized in Venezuela mainly around the research done by special research and development units at national universities. The paper describes some of these units in order to shed light about their performance. Two economic approaches are used to explain the academic production of these biotech research organizations: the technological and organizational approaches. A case study methodology is used in this research. The results can be summarized as: The percentage of researchers who are doctors is less than seventy percent in each research and development unit, funding source comes basically from the Venezuelan government, strategic alliances are mainly formed between universities, performance of research and development units is mostly oriented to research but not to development. The main conclusion of this paper is that the research and development organizations are only carrying out the research function because (i) the low number of doctors, (ii) the few number of strategic alliances with the private sector and (iii) the form the research and development units finance themselves.