O papel dos institutos de pesquisa na inovação farmacêutica

This paper analyzes the role of research institutes in the dynamics of pharmaceutical innovation, in order to identify ways of enhancing their contribution not only to the scientific and technological development of developing countries, but also to their social and economic development. The survey is based on the concept of national innovation system and tries to identify how innovation is achieved in the pharmaceutical sector, through an institutional and historical approach that emphasizes the actors? specific characteristics and interactions in the national economy. The analysis of the Brazilian experience reveals that the specific features of the pharmaceutical innovation system demand that public research institutes perform a wider array of functions than the traditional contribution for the pool of scientific knowledge explored by the industry and the specialized technical services rendered. In order that those institutions make use of all their potential, they should consider those functions as health, science and technology, and industrial policy tools.