Description:

Speaker: Chuqiao Nan

Title: Novel Drugs or Novel Firms? The Costs of Exploration in Pharmaceutical R&D

Abstract: Novel drugs are often viewed as riskier to develop, but the sources of this correlation remain unclear. Novelty may stem from both new scientific domains and new organizational exposure. This project examines how pharmaceutical firms perform when they explore unfamiliar technological areas, either by developing new targets (scientific pivots) or by redeploying existing molecules to new indications (repurposing). Using molecule-indication-level data, I study how these forms of exploration relate to firms' prior experience and how to distinguish risks arising from scientific uncertainty versus organizational unfamiliarity. The analysis connects research on novelty and risk with theories of organizational learning and exploration in innovation-intensive industries.