ABSTRACT
The demand side complexity of the life sciences industry is the result of human health being intricate, approaches to managing health being convoluted and political systems being Byzantine, in both senses of that term. The life sciences industry with other capital intensive, long–term industries, such as automobiles or civil engineering, the risk associated with developing an innovative medical treatment is exceptional. The expertise level of the life sciences industry, measured in the qualifications and experience of its most expert people, is one of its most obvious characteristics. The life sciences industry really is exceptional. The products and services provided by the life sciences industry often are a matter of life and death. In the life sciences industry, the most prominent and visible artefacts of risk and uncertainty are product failures, the ultimate cause of which is imperfect knowledge of the technological environment.
