Times of Crisis and New Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Highly Regulated Environments: The Case of mRNA-Biotechs During COVID-19

Purpose – Crises, such as COVID-19 pandemic, are critical events that provoke important changes in
organizational practices, regulations and actors’ roles. The pharmaceutical sector has been strongly affected
because of the urgency to produce drugs that are effective and safe. However, the validation process and
regulations are historically restrictive in this sector. This study aims to study how biotechnology firms, small
companies lacking resources, have undertaken strategic actions during crisis time to induce important changes
to their advantage within such a highly regulated environment.
Design/methodology/approach – Interviews were conducted with 21 managers in four mRNA-based
biotechnology firms.
Findings – Results showed that rhetorical strategies and institutional actions are used in order to manage
change opportunities. Media attention, greater openness of state agencies and public willingness to accept new
ways of treatment illustrated this opportunity of change in favor of biotechnology firms.
Originality/value – Highly regulated environments tend to be unfavorable to smaller firms with limited
resources to overcome these constraints. The authors show that times of crisis can reverse this assumption
through the provision of new opportu