Vertical alliance networks: The case of university–biotechnology–pharmaceutical alliance chains

Many young biotechnology firms act as intermediaries in tripartite alliance chains. They enter upstream partnerships with public sector research institutions, and later form commercialization alliances with established, downstream firms. We examine the alliance activity in a large sample of biotechnology firms and find: (i) firms with multiple in-licensing agreements are more likely to attract revenue-generating alliances with downstream partners; however, (ii) the positive relationship between in-licenses and downstream alliances attenuates as firms mature, and (iii) the diversity and the quality of the academic connections of firms’ principals influences their chances of successfully acquiring commercialization rights to scientific discoveries in universities.