U-GOT KIES Research Center Seminar: Medical Innovation

Research presentations

The following researchers will present their ongoing work:

James G. Barlow (Imperial College, London & Halmstad University)  will present the paper: ‘Opening the black box of drug repurposing: the shifting relationship between serendipity and planning in exaptive innovation.’ By Andriani, P., J. Barlow, A. Ali, D. Spyridonidis and X. Ye

Abstract

There has been growing interest in economics and innovation in the concept of ‘exaptation’, a term coined in 1982 in evolutionary biology to describe the emergence of new functions in existing forms. We study drug repurposing, the activities and processes designed to create new uses for existing drugs, because it is the only example we know of a value-creating activity entirely based on exaptation. We focus on three questions: Why has interest in drug repurposing increased in the last two decades? What are the observable characteristics of this phenomenon and its implication for pharmaceutical innovation, industry dynamics and policy? What conclusions can we draw about exaptation and its potential as an innovation strategy? We find that 1) technological change is the main driver of the emergence of drug repurposing; 2) repurposing constitutes a recently emerged segment of the pharmaceutical industry and we describe its ecosystem; 3) discovery of new uses has become more complex and serendipity-based approaches are complemented by more structured approaches. We analyse repurposing as a search strategy and propose a new classification of exaptation. We conclude by highlighting some implications for strategy and policy.

About James

James G. Barlow has been a Professor of Technology and Innovation Management (Healthcare) at Imperial College Business School since 2003, and is a member of the Business School's Centre for Health Economics and Policy Innovation. He was educated at the London School of Economics and has a background in geography and economics. Previous positions held by James include the Science Policy Research Unit, University of Westminster and the Policy Studies Institute.  His research, teaching and consultancy focuses on the innovation processes in healthcare systems. He has also worked extensively on innovation in housing provision and other housing policy issues. As well research and teaching, James also advises and consult for government, healthcare services and industry, and has worked with companies from the medical technology, pharmaceutical, ICT and construction sectors in many countries.

Rögnvaldur Saemundsson (University of Iceland & University of Gothenburg) – ‘Ready to innovate during a crisis? Innovation governance during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.’ By M. McKelvey and R. Saemundsson

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to improve our overall understanding of innovation governance by exploring the generation and use of new scientific and technical knowledge to address an urgent societal crisis. To do so, we empirically analyse emergency response during the first wave of infections in Iceland using a conceptual framework based on three theoretical components, namely: emergency management, innovation governance, and the innovation process as a problem-solving process. The empirical analysis is based on systematic analysis of secondary data. Based on the results we reach three sets of conclusions. First, we conclude that improvisation processes triggered by unanticipated problems during a crisis results in novelty that is retained and diffused through complementary problem-solving processes. Second, our study extends the concept of innovation governance readiness by focusing on problem-solving and how innovation governance can be activated in the short-term. Finally, we propose that our extensions to the concept of innovation governance readiness is useful to better understand and analyse long- and short-term aspects of innovation governance.

About Rögnvaldur

Rögnvaldur J. Saemundsson is Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering in Reykjavik, Iceland, and Researcher at the University of Gothenburg. His research interests focus on technological innovation and entrepreneurship with a special emphasis on medical innovation.