Assobiotec (Italian Bioindustry Association)
Via Giovanni da Procida
11 - 20149 Milano (Italy)
Phone: +39 02345 65306
Fax: +39 02 345 65284
Web site: www.assobiotec.it
Contact: Mr. Leonardo Vingiani, General Manager
Today the Italian biotech industry is composed of 222 companies. Seventy-six percent of these companies are small and have fewer than 50 employees. The remaining 24% is equally divided between companies of medium size, employing fewer than 250 people, and large enterprises with over 250 employees.
If we break the analysis down by area of application, we find an absolute predominance of the health-care biotechnology sector: 162 companies work in the field of health care (the so-called “Red Biotech Companies”), 39 in the field of biotechnologies for animal husbandry and veterinary applications (the so-called “Green Biotech Companies”), 17 in industrial and environmental fields (“White Biotech Companies”) and 13 oriented to R&D in the field of bioinformatics. It should also be noted that 30 subsidiaries of multinationals figure among the 222 companies; 19 of these subsidiaries belong to the “Pharma-industry” category.
In employment terms, the biotech industry exhibits a strong propensity to R&D. Our surveys found 4,926 employees (35%) working as researchers in biotech companies. The total number of employees in Italian biotech companies amounts to around 14,000 (representing about 0.1% of the Italian labor force).
In terms of the total revenue recorded in 2005, the 222 companies surveyed earned 4 billion euros, equivalent to 0.4% of the gross domestic product through the sale and licensing of biotechnology products. These data are very significant if we consider that biotechnology represents one of the emerging industries, and, as such, its real development prospects are based more on the pipeline of products under development than upon increases in the sales of existing products. The R&D biotech investment is estimated around 1300 million euros.
The Italian biotechnology sector is characterized by a strong geographical concentration. Seventy-seven percent of all Italian biotech companies are concentrated in six regions. These are Lombardy, where 72 companies are situated (32% of the total), Piedmont with 32 companies (14% of the total), Tuscany, with 23 (10% of the total), Friuli Venezia Giulia, with 18 (8% of the total), followed by Lazio with 15 (7% of the total) and Sardinia with 13 (6% of the total).
Concerning the national plans, there are important measures contained in the New Italian Financial Law: a “Guarantee Fund” for SMEs, a sort of insurance scheme for bank loans and capital; 10% Tax Credit on Research Expenditures (15% when the Research is ordered to a Public Corporation), and FIRST (Fund for Scientific and Technological Research), 900 million Euro for High Innovation Industrial Fields, such as biotech.
Private biotech investment is estimated around 1300 million Euro. Public investment is around 40 million Euro, but about 80 million comes from non-profit associations for the financing of the health sector in general. For “life sciences” Italy is the third country in Europe for number of projects proposed in the 6th Framework Programme.
Science and Technology Parks have an important role in supporting biotech companies, as they account for 30% of the companies’ locations. There are close interactive collaborations between basic, applied and clinical research. Further, there is a good level of social acceptance for biotech research and applications, especially in the Red and White fields.
The combination of high quality research matched with low costs makes the Italian biotech centers highly competitive at the international level. There is an excellent scientific community with numerous research centers and strong international interactions.
The national government has a strong commitment to develop the Biotech Field. Regional authorities, too, are actively involved in promoting biotech through funding technology transfer agencies, incubators and seed funds.
Assobiotec is also trying to persuade the government to adapt the ‘Young Innovative Company’ concept, originally developed in France to provide tax breaks and other fiscal supports to research-intensive startup companies, to the Italian tax code.
Italy offers good conditions for conducting clinical trials: there are highly competitive costs and Italy has the oldest population in Europe. You can find strong talent pool at every phase of the drug development chain and recent data from the relevant authorities confirms a significant reduction in approval times for all phases.
Set up in 1986 within Federchimica, the Italian Federation of the Chemical Industry, Assobiotec is the Italian Bioindustry Association. Assobiotec is a co-founding member of EuropaBio, the European Bioindustry Association. Assobiotec represents the companies and the science & technology parks operating in Italy and involved in all field of biotechnology (pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, environment, agro-food, etc.).