Biotech, in Italy it is worth 47.5 billion and has 80 thousand employees

With a turnover of 47.5 billion euros in 2023 , 4,888 companies and over 80,000 employees , the biotechnology sector in Italy confirms its strategic importance and strong expansion : this is the picture presented at the Annual Assembly of Assobiotec, the National Association for the Development of Biotechnology that is part of Federchimica. Companies, especially small ones, are largely concentrated in the North of the country, which hosts 48% of companies and 73% of the value produced. Lombardy leads the regional ranking with 15.3% of companies, followed by Veneto and Tuscany with 11.6% each. "The entire potential of European biotechnology is not yet fully exploited", observed the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, in the letter he sent to the assembly. "Companies are faced with bureaucratic obstacles, regulatory complexity and difficulties in bringing innovation to the market, making growth and competitiveness in the sector difficult. For this reason - adds Urso - we have worked to build a dedicated legislation, the Biotech Act, aimed at promoting innovation, accelerating the transition to a greener economy and strategic independence". "These new numbers confirm that biotechnologies are enabling and transversal technologies, with applications that span many strategic areas", comments Fabrizio Greco, who was confirmed as president of Assobiotec for the three-year period 2025-2028. "They are technologies that can offer concrete answers to many of the great challenges of our time related to health, sustainability, productivity and strategic autonomy. A sector that is certainly destined to grow further in the coming years - continues Greco - and on which countries such as the United States and China have already bet for economic growth. Today, Europe is also moving in the right direction, with the European Biotech Act expected in 2026".

The Assobiotec assembly was also the occasion for the assignment of the Assobiotec Award 2025 , an award established in 2008 and assigned to personalities who have distinguished themselves in the promotion of research, innovation and technology transfer. This year's award goes to Luigi Naldini , director of the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (SR-Tiget) and professor at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan. Naldini was chosen "For his extraordinary contribution to the treatment of genetic and oncological diseases , with pioneering work that has opened up new therapeutic possibilities. For having brought the excellence of Italian research to the world, becoming an ambassador of innovation, expertise and passion. For having paved the way, as a scientist, innovator and entrepreneur, to a new era of medicine, more targeted and personalized".