ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the principal drivers for the evolution of the industry's structure as a whole. It examines the process by which the French, in particular, were able to attain a leading position in the global vaccine industry by the mid-2000s. The chapter also examines the French entry into the world's second largest single market for pharmaceuticals, Japan. It identifies the specificities of the vaccine industry and explores its evolution from a local to a global business, through the French case. The production of vaccines was one of the founding branches of the pharmaceutical industry, and with their commercialization, the notion of what might today be called a 'business model' began to take shape. The chapter provides some important implications for other vaccine-producing nations by comparing the French and Japanese vaccine industries, namely the connections one can make between national industry structure, operating model, and global competitiveness.
