Algorithm for Selecting Industrial Partners of Scientific and Technological Projects for the Purpose of Import Substitution of High-Tech Medical Products

Background. To date, approaches to the design and management of RD that justify the implementation of the most promising solutions, as well as to identify domestic companies with the required technical competencies, are not well developed and applicable in practice in the scientific and technological field. Aims — development of an algorithm for identifying possible industrial partners to accelerate the implementation of full-cycle projects aimed at creating import-substituting products. Methods. The algorithm assumes the successive implementation of the following analytical procedures: 1) identification of “defective” commodity items with a critically high level of import dependence; 2) identification of foreign companies, technology leaders in niche markets; 3) analysis of the portfolio of patent documents of foreign companies - technology leaders; 4) highlighting the most promising technical solutions and approaches in the considered technological area; 5) identification of domestic companies holding relevant technical competencies; 6) identification of potential industrial partners for import substitution projects of the full innovation cycle based on non-patent information. To test the proposed algorithm, product group 9018 (Instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences...) was selected in accordance with the commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity. As the information base of the study, specialized registries, legal acts, a database of trade statistics and patent information resources were used. Results. An algorithm has been tested to identify companies capable of import substitution of high-tech goods, according to the formed ranked list according to the level of criticality of the positions of defective medical devices, through the use of patent analytics tools and the collection of non-patent information. Conclusion. The proposed algorithm can be applied to develop new approaches in the design and management of RD aimed at creating import-substituting high-tech products.