Academic–industry collaboration in biomedical innovation: A multi-model review of barriers and facilitators

• Academic–industry collaboration is essential for biomedical innovation, enabling the translation of scientific discoveries into clinical applications. • Three collaboration frameworks (the triple helix model, university–enterprise collaboration model, and Lewinian approach) are integrated into a combined model, with proposed implications for its use in the health and life sciences. • Key barriers include intellectual property misalignment, regulatory complexity, and cultural differences between academia and industry. By contrast, proximity, trust, and shared infrastructure serve as facilitators of collaboration. • Benchmarking of large bioscience clusters and ecosystems reveals the importance of governance integration, long-term agendas, and joint interest of stakeholders in the ecosystem. Effective collaboration between university medical centres and biotechnology companies is increasingly crucial for driving translational innovation in the health and life sciences. In particular, collaboration is strongly encouraged within biotechnology and life sciences clusters where there is physical and institutional proximity between academia and industry. However, collaboration in such clusters is dependent on many different interacting actors. This review examines the triple helix model, the university–enterprise collaboration model, and the Lewinian approach, and identifies barriers and facilitators of academic–industry collaboration. Despite mutual interest, barriers such as intellectual property issues, regulatory complexity, divergent visions, and institutional rigidity arise. Conversely, shared infrastructure, effective intermediary structures, and trust-based relationships facilitate collaboration. Based on the literature, several actionable strategies are proposed to enhance partnerships between academia and industry.