White Spaces Innovation in Sweden - Innovation policy for ... - Vinnova

WHITE SPACES INNOVATION IN SWEDENlandscape. Although this does not mean geographical proximity alone is the „designspace‟ under exploration, it nevertheless recognises that geographical proximity is crucialfor assembling the recombined knowledges, from inside and outside the region, thatconstitute the innovative solution to the „mystery‟. In this manner, geographical proximityis restored to a prior position in the hierarchy of „relational spaces‟ that have beenadvanced for understanding the role of geography in a globalised world. We use threeinnovation biographies to test out these propositions, beginning with the origin of a„functional food‟ known as a „probiotic drink‟ that used biotechnology to develop a„health claim‟ for the product.Probiotic DrinksThe probiotic drink in question, brand-name ProViva has been produced by Skåne,Sweden dairy producer Skånemeijerer. In purely commercial terms it had a chequeredhistory described in Cooke (2007, 202-208) the main elements of which include thefollowing. The product began life in the laboratory in the mid-1980s as a by-product ofglobally significant biopharmaceuticals innovation in the field of human insulin (Fig. 6).ProViva was a non-milk based progenitor of the kind of digestive support ingredientalso represented by related „healthy bacteria‟ dairy products like Yakult, Benencol, andActivia. In 1994 the product, consisting of a cocktail of bacteria and aimed at a supermarketaudience was produced and marketed. Because of its alleged health gain properties– for example, relieving then-fashionable irritable bowel syndrome - it was sold at apremium price. As such, it sold relatively poorly in its earliest Nordic-centred markets.A new marketing launch in the UK also failed to attract customers. However, by 2010,there had been a market turnaround and the product line was purchased by Actimel‟sowners Danone for €50 million. Hence, what seemed an innovation failure turned into amarketing success. However, of greater interest here is the history of the drink. It beginswith the quest for an alternative to animal pancreases as the only source of human insulinuntil the 1980s. Two companies, the pioneer biotechnology firms in California Cetusand Genentech made two breakthroughs, the former in its genetic engineering processinnovation polymerase chain reaction, the latter in actually producing synthetic insulinby using the genetic engineering tool in question. This defeated competition from Danishpharmaceuticals company Novo Nordisk, partnered by Massachusetts biotechnologyfirm Biogen. Novo decided to redouble its efforts into becoming a specialist diabetesfirm, expert in all stages of treatment of the disease. Diet is important to recoveringdiabetes patients and research Novo was engaged in identified the forerunner of ProVivaas a valuable digestive supplement for recovering patients. Swedish pharma firm Astranow AstraZeneca was a main partner and transferred this knowledge through LundTechnical University to Skånemeijerer, where it was eventually successfully developedas a commercial product. In analytical terms this innovation represents multi-regime andparadigm interaction (Fig. 6). This involved STS 1 centred upon genetic engineering,STS 2 specialising in therapeutic biopharmacy, both in the US, STS 3 the Danish bio-93