PhD Scientific Days 2026

Pharmaceutical Sciences and Health Technologies 1.

Exposures influencing the performance of health industry start-ups and spin-offs

Name of the presenter

Váncsa-Szántó, Orsolya

Institute/workplace of the presenter

PwC Hungary-Semmelweis University

Authors

Orsolya Váncsa Szántó¹
1: PwC Hungary-Semmelweis University

Text of the abstract

INTRODUCTION: The global health industry is expanding, yet start-ups and spin-offs are facing challenges hindering their long-term survival. Identifying the exposures that drive the success of these ventures is important to encourage innovation, to support their growth, and to contribute to improving patient care.
AIMS: To systematically investigate the exposures correlating with the success of health industry start-ups and spin-offs.
METHODS: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis following the Cochrane Handbook. On 15.02.2025, we searched PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science using a predefined search strategy. We included studies investigating health industry start-ups and spin-offs that reported on exposures - defined as internal organizational characteristics and external contextual or environmental factors. Identified exposures were extracted and categorized based on the Stam ecosystem framework. Outcomes included company survival (operation period), funding received, including corporate venture capital, and new product development. We calculated pooled correlation coefficients (r) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using a random-effects meta-analysis between exposures and outcomes.
RESULT: From 24,118 records, 17 studies met the inclusion criteria, encompassing 53–2,428 ventures each. Eligible articles investigated a total of 204 unique exposures, which we grouped into 87 homogeneous categories. The most investigated outcome was the company’s operation period. Investment scheme, which is a funding execution model (r=0.59, CI: -0.13, 0.87) and technological overlap with the parent firm (r=0.26, CI: -0.22, 0.63), showed the highest correlations with the operation period. The amount of funding received had the strongest correlation with the investment scheme applied (r=0.55, CI: -0.48, 0.92); however, most exposures demonstrated a pooled correlation below 0.2. Overlap with the parent firm showed the strongest link to product development success (r=0.30).
CONCLUSION: Various factors were found to influence the success of health-innovation ventures, though only some showed moderate correlations with outcomes. Investment schemes had the strongest links to both survival and funding. By grouping these factors, we propose a clearer definition of exposures and contribute to an evidence-based framework for sustainable health-innovation ecosystems.