Introducing the open innovation model in Polish biopharmaceutical companies: major drivers and barriers

Innovation is one of the most critical determinants of economic success and one of the most important elements in building a competitive advantage. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the development of new strategic partnerships, including open innovation alliances, in the biopharmaceutical industry. The adoption of open innovation strategies has been a persistent trend, although these strategies vary considerably from one country to another. The lowest level of open cooperation and R&D collaboration in the biopharmaceutical industry can be observed in Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland. The main barriers to, and challenges facing, open innovation cooperation in the Polish biopharma-ceutical sector, however, are not well understood. This study analyses the major drivers of, and barriers to, engaging in open innovation cooperation. A survey was conducted and established that open innovation cooperation and R&D collaboration do not necessarily suffer from a lack of financial resources, but are definitely dependent on such socio-beha-vioural factors as motivation for collaboration, value systems, and trust between partners.