Production sites, pre-clinical research, phase I and II trials. Pharmaceutical industries, both multinational and Italian, are ready to bet on Italy and to put very respectable investments on the plate: up to 1.795 billion euros with as many as 141 intervention projects.This was the response given by companies in the sector to the tender launched by AIFA (Italian Medicines Agency) for participation in program agreements. Which then means, for those who win at the time of the final selection expected by June, to participate in the so-called premium price: price discounts, with a loot limited to 100 million euros, at least for the moment. Each project that passes through the final sieve will benefit up to 10% of the proposed investment. In short, if all the proposed investments were to be approved for the full amount, at least another 80 million would be needed. Objective that is not impossible, especially in the event of refinancing of the premium price programme.
Aifa - after last Thursday's Board of Directors which took note of the presentation of the responses to the tender by companies - a note of optimism arrives. "Even with the necessary checks and due investigations - he commented in a note - this is a positive sign of a countertrend, through which the pharmaceutical sector is taken on by companies as a sector in which to invest and not as an exclusively profit sector" .
The cautiously positive judgment of the president of Farmindustria, Sergio Dompé, instead leverages on three elements: «The accounts in order of public pharmaceutical expenditure in 2007, the positive effects of the recent rules on export which reached 53% of the total turnover. No other sector can boast these results, further demonstrating that the knowledge economy can truly be one of the driving and decisive sectors for the country's growth».
Who invests and where
There were 52 companies (out of the 61 that registered on the Aifa thematic site) that sent investment proposals. A total of 141 investment plans were sent by the pharmaceutical industries, according to this classification: 64 proposals relating to production sites (45% of the total number of plans sent) for an amount of 1.013 billion: 45 proposals for pre-clinical research ((32%) for 680.9 million; lastly, 32 investment plans for phase I and II clinical trials (23%) for an investment amount of 100.8 million. The spectrum of companies ready to invest is widest: from industries "classic" pharmaceuticals (of which 40 associated with Farmindustria) to biotech (17 associated only or also with Assobiotec) up to those dealing with generics (11 associated only or also with Assogenerici). companies not registered with any association: there were 13, not a few.
Roberto Turno Il Sole 24 Ore of 04/15/2008 ECONOMY AND BUSINESS p. 25
