Digital Innovation, Localisation and Productive Capabilities in the South African Pharmaceutical Industry

Lorenza Monaco () and Alexis Habiyaremye ()
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Lorenza Monaco: Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, University College London. Author-Workplace-Name: South African Research Chair in Industrial Development, University of Johannesburg
Alexis Habiyaremye: South African Research Chair in Industrial Development, University of Johannesburg

No 2024-04, SARChI-ID Working Papers from SARChI Industrial Development (SARChI-ID), University of Johannesburg (UJ)

Abstract: The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most innovative sectors in terms of research and development investment and new products brought to the market every year. Pharmaceutical innovation, with its complexity and public health implications, is associated with one of the largest numbers of patents and intellectual property rights, which in turn have a significant effect on access to medicines and technology transfer across firms and countries. As part of a broader research on Productive Skills in the 4th Industrial Revolution, this study of the South African pharmaceutical industry aims to assess its current state in terms of the acquisition of advanced technologies, their effect on manufacturing and employment, and the actual obstacles to the further localisation of production. Together with limits and constraints to further expansion, the paper also highlights positive cases of local innovation and institutional collaboration that could potentially be replicated. Ultimately, the study provides a picture of a small but dynamic industry, with structural weakness and constraints, but also poles of excellence and successful cases of collaborative innovation

Keywords: Innovation; digital technologies; localisation; manufacturing capabilities; South Africa; pharmaceuticals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O14 O25 O32 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2024-02, Revised 2024-02
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