42 business R&D in biotechnology

Intramural business enterprise expenditure on R&D (BERD) in the field of biotechnology totalled €3.0 billion in 2013, accounting for around 10% of BERD. The proportion of firms active in this field of research has remained stable compared to 2012, at 11%. Firms that specialise in biotechnology are mostly small enterprises.

In 2013 (semi-finalised data), business enterprises spent a total of €3.0 billion on R&D in biotechnology, i.e. an increase of 2.9% in real terms in expenditure in this field. 10% of business intramural expenditure on R&D (BERD) was dedicated to biotechnology (table 42.01). In terms of the number of businesses, 11% of all companies carrying out R&D in France were involved in this field, as in 2012 (chart 42.02).

The proportion of business enterprises active in biotechnology research among all companies with expenditure on R&D reached nearly 11% in France in 2013 (semi-finalised data).

The overall BERD of the businesses concerned was €5.4 billion: intramural expenditure on the 'biotechnology' field therefore corresponds to around 56% of their total BERD.

Two thirds of active biotechnology firms are dedicated, in other words they devote at least 75% of their intramural expenditure on R&D to it. Dedicated biotechnology firms spent nine-tenths of all expenditure in biotechnology within France, representing a total of €2.7 billion in investment. In practice, these dedicated firms devoted almost all of their intramural R&D expenditure (98%) to R&D in biotechnology.

R&D in biotechnology is carried out by small companies (chart 42.03): 56% of active biotechnology firms and 61% of dedicated biotechnology companies in this field employed fewer than 20 people in 2013. By comparison, only one business in two active in R&D is in the top band for number of employees. The proportion of small businesses is even more marked in the United Kingdom or Germany, where 80% and 79% respectively (2014 data) of active biotechnology firms have fewer than 50 employees (compared to 73% in France, in 2013) ¹. The proportion is a little lower in the United States (72% in 2012) and South Korea (60%). Japan meanwhile has a very low proportion of businesses with fewer than 50 employees among its active biotechnology firms (28% in 2013).

By contrast, there are relatively few large structures among dedicated biotechnology companies. Only 7% have at least 250 employees, compared to 10% of companies active in this field and all companies active in R&D. Dedicated companies have an average of 86 employees, compared to 156 for active biotechnology firms and 220 for businesses active in R&(table 42.01).

The ‘Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations’ remained the main research branch investing in this field in 2013, accounting for 64% of R&D expenditure in biotechnology (chart 42.04), although only 12% of businesses were active in this field. Together with ‘Professional, scientific and technical activities’, these two branches accounted for more than three quarters (77%) of all R&D expenditure allocated to the ‘biotechnology’ field. Although the latter group accounted for much less expenditure, it did include a higher proportion of active firms (43% in 2013). The chemical industry still occupied third place in the proportion of expenditure targeted at biotechnology.

Stéphane Montenache

¹ OECD, Key biotechnology indicators, Juillet 2015, http://www.oecd.org/sti/inno/keybiotechnologyindicators.htm