Strong patent protections are vital to small research startups in biotechnology in getting products to market

Intellectual property rights can encourage small and large companies in the biotech industry to enter into partnerships, facilitating the exchange of information. Smaller research startups typically lack the resources to meet the regulatory requirements associated with bringing a product to market, let alone cover the often extensive costs of manufacturing, marketing, and distributing a new product. Without intellectual property protection, other restrictions, or alternative mechanisms to reduce the risks of expropriation, many of these products would be less likely to make it to market. Even when alternative mechanisms or restrictions can function to mitigate expropriation risks at certain stages of the transaction, awareness of intellectual property rights may act as a further deterrence to would-be expropriators.