International Conference "Reconnecting economy and society through innovation - A new bioeconomy infrastructure for the regeneration of local areas" 30th September 2016

1. 1

2. 2
THE DEVELOPMENT OF
BIOTECHNOLOGY IN ITALY:
DYNAMIC AND ANTI-CYCLICAL
ACCELERATOR OF EMPLOYMENT
RICCARDO PALMISANO
TAGLIO DI PO, ROVIGO, ITALIA
SEPTEMBER 30TH,2016

3. 3CONTENTS
THE ITALIAN BIOTECH INDUSTRY IN FIGURES
R&D ACTIVITIES
THE EMPLOYMENT IMPACT OF INNOVATION
WHITE BIOTECHNOLOGY
WHITE BIOTECHNOLOGY AND CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
THE BIOREFINERY
BIOREFINERIES IN ITALY
BIOECONOMY IN ITALY
GREEN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
KEY STRENGHTS OF ITALIAN BIOTECHNOLOGY

4. 4THE ITALIAN BIOTECH INDUSTRY IN FIGURES
The evolution of the biotech industry in Italy
The Italian biotech industry has undergone
through an extraordinary growth 2015
Source:

5. 5THE ITALIAN BIOTECH INDUSTRY IN FIGURES
Analysis by field of application Analysis by size

6. 6THE ITALIAN BIOTECH INDUSTRY IN FIGURES
Analysis by geographic distribution

7. 7R&D ACTIVITIES
R&D investment
• Considering total companies, the share
of biotech R&D investment amount to
27% of total R&D investments.
• The share increases to 91% when only
considering the dedicated biotech R&D
firms, and reaches 96% with regards to
the Italian capital dedicated biotech
R&D firms.

8. 8THE EMPLOYMENT IMPACT OF INNOVATION

9. 9WHITE BIOTECHNOLOGY
White biotech at European level. A
new study by EuropaBio
Industrial Biotech contributes over
€30 billion to the EU economy and
around 500,000 jobs.
These figures are expected to
grow to between 900,000-1.5
million jobs with an economic
contribution of up to almost €100
billion by 2030
Source: EuropaBio, new study launched on 27 September

10. 10WHITE BIOTECH AND CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
White biotechnology is at a relatively early stage in the
chemical industry. But it has the potential as a key
driver to the industry’s future.
Industrial biotechnology can replace multi-step
chemical synthesis with a single step involving low
energy and less material input, and even enables the
synthesis of products that are not possible
chemically.
According to OECD, in 2030 biotechnology will have a
relevant role in the production of 35% of chemical and
industrial products.

11. 11THE BIOREFINERY
Industrial Biotechnology has the potential to trigger a
paradigm shift in the chemical industry through the
step-by-step establishment of biorefinery.
An increasing number of chemicals and materials, like
base chemicals, polymers, industrial catalysts,
enzymes and detergents are produced using
biotechnology.
In 2010, the sales of industrial chemicals created
using biotechnology in at least one step of the
production process equalled 92 bn euro globally, 228
bn euro in 2015, and this is expected to increase to
515 bn euro in 2020 (on average around 20% per year)
Source. Festel G., Detzel C. and
Maas R., Industrial Biotechnology –
Markets and industry structure,
Journal of Commercial
Biotechnology, Volume 18, No. 1,
2012
• Consumption and not
production
• Without biofuels and
biopharmaceuticals

12. 12BIOREFINERIES IN ITALY
The biorefineries integrated in the local areas foster sustainable growth, competitiveness and
employment in the whole value chain (from farmers to industry)

13. 13BIOECONOMY IN ITALY
The bioeconomy in Italy is worth
244 billion € with 1.5 million people
employed
Source: Research Department Intesa Sanpaolo

14. 14GREEN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
To support the development of the bioeconomy and the creation of new high
skilled jobs Italy needs a national strategy (new policies, included a GPP
system such as the USDA Biopreferred )
Source: US Department of Agriculture
Source: German Bioeconomy Council

15. 15KEY STRENGHTS OF ITALIAN BIOTECH
 Italy shows an extremely competitive national reality, which has significantly grown over the
past years, and still shows the capacity to overcome the cyclic nature which is typical of other
industrial sectors.
 Indeed, the growing trend of biotechnology in Italy is the result of the recognized excellence
of the Italian research as well as the outstanding capacity of our companies to transform
innovation into valuable products and enterprise value.
 Italy is therefore a country able to search/offer really interesting partnership to foreign firms
and researchers.
 Excellent quality of research with several dedicated centers
 Clusters (such as SPRING, Italian Cluster of Green Chemistry)
 Excellent scientific community with strong international interactions
 Companies which are at the forefront of innovation

16. 16THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION
Email: assobiotec@federchimica.it
Web site: www.assobiotec.it
Twitter: @assobiotec
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AssobiotecIT