The Triple Helix: International Cases and Critical Summary - Technopolis: Best Practices for Science and Technology Cities - page 68

3.1 Government Support

A Life Science industry needs to operate in a favorable environment, with well-
maintained infrastructure. A government's supportive tax and regulatory policies
imparts an enabling climate, fostering the commercialization practices and
attracting more basic ingredients to the cluster. Many aspects of the infrastructure
are public in nature which only the government is in a position to provide. Some of
these include, but are not limited to:

• A legal framework that protects intellectual property rights of inventors.
• Mechanisms to license these rights, transfer them from public to private domain,
commercialize academic discoveries, and ultimately reward innovation.
• Education infrastructure to train large pools of labor, preparing human capital
for the industry.

The crucial role of the government in the creation of a life science industry
existed long before its birth. For instance, in North Carolina, behind the excellence
of universities was decades of government support. 1 Government funding continues
to pour into research institutions' labs, in tens of billions of dollars every year.

3.2 Commercial Infrastructure

There are other infrastructural elements which generally fall in the private sector.
These include ''professional service providers such as patent agents, intellectual
property attorneys, consultants and accountants; wet-lab facilities and bio supplies
and equipment; specialized suppliers such as contract manufactures and clinical
research organizations; and related industries such as medical devices and infor-
mation technology'' (Song 2004 ), all of which aid in facilitating the creation and
growth of a cluster.

3.3 Collaboration

The life science industry is probably more collaborative than any other industry
where deal-making is a way of life. Extensive and intensive collaboration pervades
the entire cluster.

• Academic collaboration

It is rather common for faculty members from different institutions to collab-
orate on the same research project, and their institutions jointly own the IP rights
of resulting inventions.

1

See Song ( 2004 )