Background: Cross-regional technology transfer has been increasingly implemented in China, and it is playing a more and more important role in Chinese drug innovation performance. However, few attempts have been made to identify determinants of cross-regional pharmaceutical technology transfer in China. This study hence aims to identify the influence of different factors in cross-regional pharmaceutical technology transfer in China and propose policy recommendations.

Methods: We employ spatial interaction model in this study to identify different kinds of factors that influence pharmaceutical technology transfer in different spatial entities. The research sample is composed of 2,076 cases of pharmaceutical patent licensing from external domain to firms in SIPO (State Intellectual Property Office of China), geographically covering 31 province-level regions in China.

Results and Discussion: R&D (research and development) input and output in the origin region and technological demand in the destination region have positive associations with the cross-regional pharmaceutical technology transfer in China. Spatial distance shows a negative regression coefficient, which reveals that pharmaceutical technology transfer is significantly affected by geographical proximity. Fully opposed spatial spillover effects are observed between R&D input and output. This difference further implies synergistic and antagonistic relationships between regions. Accordingly, some relevant strategies have been proposed to stimulate pharmaceutical technology transfer.

Conclusions: This article sheds light on main determinants on cross-regional pharmaceutical technology transfer in China based on spatial interaction model. Through empirical test, we confirmed some influence factors. Based on results, some relevant strategies have been proposed to stimulate pharmaceutical technology transfer. This study can provide some references for policy makers, technology agencies, R&D managers.