The role of institutional differences in biomedical innovation processes: a comparison of the UK and US

There are an increasing number of breakthroughs in science and technology that could radically change healthcare technology and practice. However, the availability of new knowledge does not, per se, generate innovation in the biomedical domain. Rather, biomedical innovation is typically ‘interactive’, depending crucially on the ability to integrate knowledge through networks linking distributed arrays of specialist groups, professions and organisations. Such interactive innovation processes also depend crucially on the institutional context in which they unfold. This paper aims to inform understanding of key institutional mechanisms likely to influence (and be influenced by) biomedical innovation. It does so through an analyses of similarities and differences in biomedical innovation across the US and UK. This analysis suggests a need for multi-level research that evaluates the interplay between macro institutional arrangements, meso capabilities and networks, and organising and knowledge integration mechanisms in biomedical innovation projects at the micro level.