The complexities in system building strategies — The case of personalized cancer medicines in England

• Published in: Technological forecasting & social change Vol. 98; pp. 47 - 59
• Main Authors: Kukk, P., Moors, E.H.M., Hekkert, M.P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Elsevier Inc 01.09.2015; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Biotechnology industry; Buildings; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Companion diagnostics; Construction; Customization; Diagnostic systems; Generic products; Innovation; Innovation ecosystems; Innovations; Management theory; Markets; Personalized; Personalized cancer medicine; Prescription drugs; Strategy; Studies; System building strategies; Technological change; Technological innovation systems; United Kingdom > UK; England; System building strategies; Personalized cancer medicine; Technological innovation systems; Innovation ecosystems; Companion diagnostics
• ISSN: 0040-1625; 1873-5509
• DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2015.05.019

Novel technologies often face difficulties in market uptake, especially when they differ significantly from already established technologies. In some cases, like personalized medicine, new technologies are composed of a number of parallel emerging technologies – in our case therapeutics and corresponding diagnostics – that are heavily co-dependent and cannot diffuse without each other. Therefore, actors in an innovation system need to engage themselves in complex system building strategies in order to create a more favorable environment for their emerging technologies. The bodies of literature on system building and innovation ecosystems have little overlap so far. In this article, we show how system building in a technological innovation system depends on different framework conditions in creating a market for personalized cancer therapeutics and corresponding companion diagnostics in England — such as technological complementarities, timing strategies and organizational complexity. Using this case we illustrate how notions from the literature on innovation ecosystems can complement the current system building literature. •We combine TIS framework with insights from innovation ecosystem literature.•We show how system building depends on technological co-dependency.•We demonstrate the importance of organizational complexity and timing strategies on system building strategies.