Projetcs as an attempt to make science into business : Embedding commercialization projects into business networks

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how science is transformed into business by means of commercialization projects, and especially the interfaces these projects create with the surrounding network. We also aim specifically at identifying which different types of interfaces can be pivotal from project to project. Our methodology relies on four comparative case studies, centered each on a specific project selected from the commercialization efforts of Karolinska Institute (Sweden). Our findings stress that, except in one case, interfaces with users/potential buyers do not play a major role in setting the commercial direction (target markets) of these projects. Instead, in the absence of a strong interface to users, the most decisive interface for setting the commercial direction is the one with financiers, which further binds all projects to Karolinska’s innovation-supporting system. Moreover, we find that the interface with the project team is never pivotal for the four analyzed project, as the human resources directly employed in the project are kept to a minimum in all of Karolinska Institute’s commercialization projects. This makes commercialization projects extremely dependent on external resources and largely unable to control their long-term development.