Commercialisation of biotechnology: Do dedicated public policies matter?

National governments are often confronted with the questions whether generic policy instruments are sufficient to support technology development and innovation and what justifies the introduction of instruments that focus on one specific technology. This article investigates the relationship between the commercial performance in biotechnology of 14 EU Member States and the presence of instruments that stimulate and support commercialisation of biotechnology in these countries. Our findings contradict the proposition that countries with dedicated biotech instruments show better commercialisation performance in biotechnology than countries without such instruments. Instead, success is more likely to be determined by the systemic character of public policies that address all elements of the innovation system, including instruments that stimulate the life sciences knowledge base and its commercialisation.