Sectoral system of innovation : SMEs' development and heterogeneity of trajectories.

Summary Biotechnology is an emerging sector based on the creation of research-intensive SMEs. While some SMEs are growing rapidly, most remain small, even those created several years ago. What are the conditions for the development of the biotechnology sector? What are the conditions for the development of these companies? Studies on the development of high-tech SMEs have focused on business models in which entrepreneurs anticipate the growth of their company to persuade venture capitalists to invest in their innovation projects. The firms, anticipating the global market to industrialize their innovations and the introduction on the financial market (stock exchange), must guarantee the first investors to make profits commensurate with the risks they have taken. However, this model is only one of the possible development models for biotechnologies. Some companies do not grow exponentially and target local markets. Moreover, not all companies are destined to be listed on the financial markets. This article, based on a survey of 60 French biotech companies, identifies two models of companies according to their development trajectories and their characteristics.