Abstract:

Drug product internationalization (DPI) can be affected by multiple firm-level factors. However, existing studies mainly focus on a single or several factors and the deviation generated by the factors’ effects on each other has been neglected. We aimed to study the comprehensive influences of firm-level factors on Chinese pharmaceutical firms that chose the DPI mode. Student’s t tests and Chi Square tests were used to explore the differences between firms with or without DPI modes. Then, logistic regression analysis was used to explore the comprehensive impacts of these 16 variables.Through empirical research, we found the factors influencing the DPI mode of Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises and the firm-level factors that influenced DPI mode selection. This study showed that the capacity of enterprise’s innovation and knowledge absorption were related to the mode selection. Moreover, the education of the top management team significantly contributed to the DPI mode selection of pharmaceutical firms. This study also provided theoretical and empirical evidence for pharmaceutical enterprises when choosing their DPI mode.The internationalization of Chinese pharmaceutical firms remained at the early stage. However, the internationalization of drug products from China would affect the international pharmaceutical supply in the long term.  

Key words: Drug product internationalization, Chinese pharmaceutical firms, Firm-level factors, Comprehensive influence