Pushing scientists into the marketplace: Promoting science entrepreneurship

The need to play catch-up in biotechnology has led Germany and Japan to adopt novel technology policies. While policies to assist domestic industries have traditionally been geared toward incumbent firms, current trends revolve around "science entrepreneurship" - reforms in the national R&D system and targeted incentives for biotechnology scientists to file patents and start up their own firms. Japan in particular has recognized that catching up with the U.S. in basic science and in the commercialization of scientific research represents a kind of final frontier.