An exploratory analysis of the determinants of innovation in the emerging tissue engineering industry

Tissue engineering is a young and inter-disciplinary scientific discipline but it offers exciting opportunities to improve the quality of health care for hundreds of thousands of patients. Lured by its potential, several start-up companies, pharmaceutical corporations, and medical device enterprises alike are investing heavily in this sector. Innovation is a key driver of competition in this sector. In this study, we aim to explain the variation in innovation output across different firms in the sector. Our major premise is that firms that forge alliances will be able to tap into the expertise of their partners and thus improve their chances of coming out with an innovation. We further argue that alliances that enable technology acquisition or learning will enhance the innovation output of firms more than other kinds of alliances. We measure the innovation output of a company by the number of patents filed. Based on a preliminary analysis of eight companies, we find support for the hypotheses.