A Model for Indigenous Development of Biopharmaceutical Industry: The Case of CinnaGen Company

Recent studies on technological catch-up show a strategic shift from the whole process towards focusing on the processes. Traditionally, scholars were interested in examining the relationship between local and international sources of knowledge through quantitative methods. In more recent years, there has been a growing interest to understand the influential factors and the dynamism of catching-up processes altogether. Recent studies show that in order to reach a deeper understanding of technological catching-up by latecomers, it is crucial to focus on the challenges, difficulties and processes instead of the results per se. In this study, building on holistic case study approach, the CinnaGen Company as one of the successful catch-up companies in the Iranian biopharmaceutical industry is analyzed as a case. This research highlights the vital role of indigenous technological development effort in addition to the corroboration of the influencing factors as explicated in the literature on technological catching-up thus far. The findings of this research provide insights for biopharmaceutical industry as well as the catching-up literature.