The Influence of Biotechnology on Industrial Production Processes

Core Messages

• Biotechnology is economically attractive through the introduction of new processes and the development of new products.
• In the year 2010 about 20% of the chemical products with a sales volume of approx. 300 billion USD will be produced using biotechnology.
• In many cases the implementation of biotechnological processes have quickly lead to a market dominating position.
• The commercialisation of R&D results is sometimes problematic in established companies (bureaucratic structures, fear of cannibalism, not invented here syndrome).
• In some companies there still exists a conflict between chemical and biotechnological  point of view; since many chemists are in executive positions, it is sometimes more difficult to enforce a biotechnological variant (however the tendency is strongly declining).
• Apart from the use of company internal resources, the incorporation of external know how within co-operations is a suitable alternative.
• The transfer of R&D activities into an independent start-up company as R&D spin-off is a possibility to commercialise R&D activities.
• Corporate venturing is an interesting model to gain access to external know how and to flexibilise R&D structures.
• In virtual structures a large part of the R&D activities are performed outside the own company and only the comprehensive project management remains in-house.
• Possibilities to replace existing chemical production processes with biotechnological processes will increase due to advances in biotechnological R&D.
• The decisive driving force for the change towards biotechnological production processes is clearly the cost factor.
• The restrictions of biotechnological production processes are predominantly viewed on the side of economics (operative costs, R&D costs, investments).