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Introduction
The biotechnology sector is characterized by its tight links to science and innovation. Its high capital-labor intensity and risk that R&D expenses will not be covered by product commercialization make newly established biotechnology firms vulnerable in the market. Their survival is challenging and dependent on many factors.
Poland is ranked tenth worldwide in terms of the number of centers carrying out clinical trials (1.6 percent of global involvement). The large number of patients, relatively low operational overheads, cost-effective manufacturing, highly skilled workforce and significant know-how in the area of generic medicine advancement, as well as growing experience and high potential in clinical research projects, make Poland an attractive location for clinical research and R&D projects (PAIIZ, 2012).
Despite the high intellectual potential of academia in biotechnology in Poland, universities concentrate mainly on fundamental research. They lack effective commercialization tools for R&D outcomes. The existing technology transfer gap between basic research and the commercialization of the results could be closed by biotech academic spin-offs managing the technology transfer from universities and research institutions to industrial companies (Festel and Rittershaus, 2014). The innovation of biotechnology products requires considerable R&D expense, further complicated by the risk of failure. To this extent, active, relatively young entities dealing with research-developmental activity in biotechnology, seek sources to fund research on the alternative floor of the stock exchange, e.g. NewConnect. Yet, going public, in itself, does not guarantee effective commercialization, i.e., the sale of products or services based on university created R&D results might not generate revenue. To survive and grow, and, to continue R&D activities, companies need markets interested in their value proposition, open to innovation and have sufficient purchasing power.
To effectively enter the global market, young firms require broad-based innovation, not only in respect of products and technologies, but also in terms of their strategies and business models (Amit and Zott, 2001; Chesbrough and Rosenbloom, 2002; Johnson et al., 2008). The desire for internationalization should also translate into the inclusion of appropriate attributes in the business model so as to enable the effective implementation of the internationalization strategy.
The purpose of this paper is to identify the business model components and the related attributes of biotech spin-off activity that are key to the implementation of the internationalization...