Italian Trade Commission to Discuss Biotech Investment & Collaboration Opportunities in Italy at BIO CEO & Investor Conference 2008

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Italian Trade Commission, in collaboration with ASSOBIOTEC, Italy’s National Association for the Development of Biotechnology, will sponsor for the first time this year’s BIO CEO & Investor Conference taking place in New York (Waldorf-Astoria, February 11-13 2008) to highlight the remarkable accomplishments of the Italian biotech sector, to draw the attention of investors and industry analysts to investment opportunities in Italy and to spur US biotech firms to develop collaborations with Italian counterparts.

The Italian biotechnology sector has made huge strides in the last few years, growing at rapid pace and currently generating over $5.6 billion in yearly revenues. It comprises more than 220 companies, of which more than 160 are focused on the health segment, with a total market capitalization of nearly $2.8 billion. They are exceptionally strong in product development, with 77 new compounds in clinical trial last year. Of these, 42 have advanced to the human testing stage. The largest number of firms (36) are focused on Oncology, a field in which Italy is ranked second only to the United States. Other fields such as Vaccines, Gene Therapy, Neurosciences and Cardiovascular Diseases have also been a longtime focus of leading-edge applied medical research.

Spending on R&D (already ranked fourth in Europe) is on the rise and new biotechnology ventures continue to grow, mainly as spins offs of academic work or of foreign companies.

This vibrant segment of the Italian economy exhibits a growing capacity to attract resources and offers copious investment and collaboration opportunities to foreign groups. There have been several success stories of collaborative agreements between US and Italian biotech firms, such as Genentech’s recently-announced $310 million agreement with Nerviano Medical Science (NMS), the largest pharmaceuticals R&D facility in Italy and one of the leading oncology-focused and development company in Europe, and already over 100 foreign companies have operations in Italy.

The Trade Commission’s scientific representatives present at the Conference will share prospects for collaborations, as well as insights on how to engage and invest in the Italian biotech world.