A comparison of the current structures and dynamics of UK and German biotech- nology-based industries reveals a striking convergence of industrial organisations and innovation directions in both countries. This counteracts propositions from theoretical frameworks such as the varieties-of-capitalism hypothesis and the na- tional innovation systems approach which suggest substantial differences between the industrial structures of the countries due to differing institutional frameworks. In this paper, we question these approaches and show that the observed structural alignment can be explained by the network organisation of research and produc- tion in knowledge-based industries.