Translating Emergent Technologies into Novel Therapeutics: Tracing Complementarity and Co-evolution in the Cambridge–Boston Innovation Ecosystem
本文基于档案和口述历史，研究剑桥-波士顿地区生命科学企业如何成为全球治疗产业中心，分析企业、大学、医院和风险资本之间的互补互动与共同演化如何提升创新能力，并揭示创新过程的非线性特征。
Abstract This article traces the history of the life sciences business in the Cambridge–Boston area and explores how it became the global epicenter of the modern therapeutics industry. While business history scholarship on therapeutics is extensive, few have studied recent technological modalities—from therapeutic proteins to cell and gene therapies—or adopted a regional ecosystem perspective. Based on archival materials and oral histories, this research bridges these works and incorporates insights from the innovation ecosystems framework. It considers how dynamic interactions between an evolving network of complementary and interdependent actors, including therapeutics firms, universities, hospitals, and risk capital providers, enhanced innovative capacity. This perspective also illuminates how ecosystem strength derived from the co-evolution of actors—from universities restructuring technology transfer offices to academic scientists becoming entrepreneurs. The research further highlights the nonlinearity of innovation processes. It shows how an extraordinary interplay between structural advantage, serendipitous timing, and strategic actions cultivated an unparalleled capacity to translate emergent technologies into novel therapies.