We investigate research networks in heart medicine to shed light on the question to what extent market forces (economic utility) can shape the process of knowledge creation in heart medicine. If (future) successful inventors could be identified via network parameters ex ante, firms could hire these inventors as employees or collaboration partners to influence knowledge production and increase profits and thereby shape the formation of the network. Otherwise, it might be generic forces originating from a purely medical orientation of researchers that determine the direction of knowledge creation and network formation. Empirical evidence shows that there is little predictive power in forecasting successful inventors.