Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field of knowledge that provides opportunities and incentives for the formation of partnerships and alliances, especially to complement resources. The companies in the human health sector tend to develop relationships with other companies, especially from the chemical or pharmaceutical sectors. In many cases, biotechnology companies establish interactions in order to deal with regulatory issues of the human health sector. The regulatory aspects are inserted in the institutional environment of the sector, in which there must be conditions that favor the development of biotechnology companies. As a result, this paper describes a qualitative study of the relationship between the institutional and regulatory environment in biotechnology, a human health segment, and the strategic alliances created by the companies in this sector. The case studies were conducted in companies in southern Brazil. The results showed that the strategic alliances formed are influenced by institutional environment elements such as biosafety legislation, patent rights, and sources of funding, and the level of influence varies according to the company activity, the partner profile, and the type of agreement.
Strategic alliances; Institutional environment; Sectoral regulation; Biotechnology; Human health
