What are the strategies adopted by large pharmaceutical firms (Big Pharma) in dealing with the globalized generics competition? This paper focuses on the arbitration these firms make between knowledge-capital accumulation and knowledge-capital valorization strategies. The knowledge-capital is defined as the set of information, knowledge, know-how that a firm produces, acquires, combines and systemizes to be used in the value production process. Big Pharma are short term profit oriented, favoring the objective of valorization of their existing knowledge-capital while their objectives of accumulation of knowledge-capital are targeted on minor innovation. JEL codes: L12, L21, L65