Platform technology management of biotechnology companies in Japan

Abstract

This study quantitatively and chronologically analyzed the technology management of Japanese biotechnology companies using the patent application data of platforms and products, including patent categorization methods. Nine listed platform companies were analyzed. The results showed that most of the companies continuously maintained their initial platform technologies by filing updated patents, but without filing patents of new platform technologies. Their business models were shifted from a platform model to a platform-product, hybrid model and not a product-focused model. Their product patents generated from platform technologies were mainly for tools, diagnostics, and cell processing technologies, not therapeutics, except in one case; related therapeutics patents were mainly filed by corporate partners. Existing papers that analyzed Japanese biotechnology companies were verified to be partially correct based on our high-resolution patent categorization data; these results supported the usefulness of our approach.