Biotech in life sciences will triple in just over 5 years, going from a turnover of 223 billion to 731. According to an EY study presented during a conference organized by Assobiotech-Federchimica, the sector has high potential and can make a fundamental contribution to urgent new health challenges. Already in 2021 it produced 35% of the pharmaceutical products sold and developed 40% of the new drugs. It is a sector in constant global development which has been able to give concrete answers during the pandemic with vaccines, diagnostics and biopharmaceuticals and which today seems to be the fastest and most effective way in the oncological field and in the case of neurological and degenerative pathologies.
«The biopharmaceutical market, new EY data confirms, is an extremely interesting market with concrete development prospects in the near future. It is estimated that the biotech sector in the Life Sciences will go from 223 billion euros in 2020 to 731 billion in 2028 – explains Fabrizio Greco, president of Assobiotec, the national association for the development of biotechnologies which is part of Federchimica -. Unfortunately, however, in our country, despite the recognized excellence in basic research and human capital, there are many blocks that are a real threat to the development of the sector”.
Surely we need more support for investment in R&D in life sciences. In Italy, in 2020, they were worth 1,660 million euros compared to 4,451 in France and 7,813 in Germany. Those in VC Biotech Life Science, although up by around 50% compared to 2019, stand at 62 million compared to 884 in France (grown here by 88% compared to 2019). In clinical research, according to what Assobiotec explains, we are discounting the delay in the implementation of the European Regulation on Clinical Trials which provides for a maximum number of 40 Ethics Committees by the end of 2022. Our country, at the end of November, still has 90. For not to mention the approval times for new production plants and access to care: the 429 days of national time to availability 2017–2020 (133 days in Germany) must be added 300 days, on average, for regional access. These are «definitely too long times – concludes Greco – to think that the country can be attractive and competitive. That’s why we urgently ask the institutions for systemic interventions and to recognize the value of innovation even when it becomes a product». Annarita Egidi of the Assobiotec-Federchimica Presidential Council, adds that «biotech innovation travels at extraordinary speed and is literally revolutionizing the models of taking charge and treating patients. But for this innovation to reach citizens in a reasonable and uniform time frame throughout the national territory, it is necessary to create a favorable environment that provides for adequate financing of pharmaceutical expenditure, the removal of obstacles which, especially at the regional level, slow down access to available therapies, and which can overcome the old payment models in favor of new ones which allow to fully exploit the efficacy of the treatment and the consequent benefits over time».