MILANO
FOR LIFESCIENCES
2021
MILANO&PARTNERS

In collaboration with:1

MILANOFOR LIFESCIENCESLAST UPDATE: NOVEMBER 2021
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CONTENTS

Why Milano ......................................
The Opportunity ................................
Snapshot of Ecosystem ......................
Life Sciences Community ..................
MIND ...............................................
Human Technopole.....................................
Oncology and Genomics...........................
OpenZone ........................................
Precision Medicine ............................
Functional Food ................................
Healthcare ........................................
Talent Base ........................................
Manufacturing ...................................
Research Excellence ..........................
Our testimonials.................................
Competitive Business Environment ....
Fiscal Incentives ..........................
Italian Quality of Life .........................
Find Out More ...................................

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THE OPPORTUNITY

Milano is home to aninternationally competitive
pharmaceutical, biotechnology
and functional foods hub, withstrong growth prospects and acommitment to innovation acrossits entire supply chain.
Italy is also home to one of themost advanced and efficient
healthcare systems in Europe.

• Lombardy is the Italian most developed
region in the Life Sciences sector with a
total production worth €63.4 bln (31% ofnational production), a value added of €45.8
bln and 347,000 employees (20% of national
employment in the sector).

• Italy is EU’s largest producer ofpharmaceutical products and one of the main
exporters of pharmaceuticals per capita. €32.57
billion of pharma products have been exported
in 2019 (+26% vs. 2018). Milano is the centerof the Italian pharmaceuticals industry: theItalian exports in pharmaceutical products
experienced a +49% growth (85% of the
production) between 2015 and 2019, scoring
the highest productivity in Europe. €1,6 bln
invested in 2019. +10% employment growth(vs +5% EU average), reaching 66,500 workers
in the Pharma sector.

• Italy is the second healthiest country in theworld1. In 2019, Italy spent $2,473 per person
on healthcare = 8.7% national GDP, slightly
above the OECD average (8.3%).

• Excellence of upstream sectors: ranking
1st in machinery and packaging (related toPharmaceuticals production).
• Lombardy is Italy’s top region for European
health and Life Sciences investments and the 4thlargest recipient region.

1 OECD Health at glance Report, 2020

AGRIFOOD TECH
Milano has been the EU food capital since Expo
2015, themed “Feeding the Planet, Energy forLife” and is located in the 1st Italian region for
Agricultural production. Discover more on thelocal AgriFood Tech ecosystem on our dedicatedbrochure.
5SNAPSHOT OF ECOSYSTEM

Milano boasts one of
the highest concentrationsof private companies,
hospital facilities andresearch institutions
in Europe and is hometo the world’s largest Life
Sciences companies.
A large number of companies in the City
specialize in the production of active
pharmaceutical ingredients and raw
materials, automated manufacturing plants,
primary and secondary packaging, andregulatory services.
Milano is home to trade bodies, government
agencies, regulators, academia and research
institutes, while all the main regulators andstrategic stakeholders for the Life Sciencesindustry are based in the area.

LOMBARDY• Lombardy is the richest region in Italy witha GDP per capita about 26% higher than thenational and the EU average.
• GDP per capita (PPS) is among the highest in
Europe and amounts up to €37,800 (€28,400
in Italy and €29,500 in the EU)• Lombardy is also home to leading scientificcenters in areas such as genomics, biomedicine
and healthcare management (e.g. oncology,
cardiovascular diseases and rehabilitation
therapies).
• Lombardy’s population exceeds 10 million
inhabitants. In 2018, the employed workforce in
Lombardy amounted to 4,41 million (66.9% was
employed in services, 31.5% in the industrial field,
1.6% in agriculture).
• 250 private and public accredited hospitals;
17 research hospitals (IRCCS); 130,000 skilled
healthcare workers; >500 R&D centeres; 9 cluster
sci-tech; 5 sci-tech parks; 4.9% of employed
population works in high-technology sectors.
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LIFE SCIENCES COMMUNITY• The Milano Metropolitan Region is home to over 250 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies(58% of Lombardy Life Sciences companies)• Life Sciences trade bodies and regulators, including the European Food Safety Authority (Parma) and
EU Joint Research Center (Ispra), are based nearby Milano. The City is competing to host the European
Unified Patent Court.
• Lombardy is home to over 51,000 agri-food companies: > 45,000 in the agricultural sector and>6,000 food and beverage companies.
• +12% value added per employee in the Pharma sector vs. major EU countries average, highlighting
the high technological level achieved by production in Italy.
• Over € 16.5 bln revenues in the Medical Devices sector with 4,323 operating companies and 94,153
people employed at the national level

Life Sciences

Food & BeverageLife sciences trade bodies and regulators

Life sciences trade bodies and regulators
European food safety authority
European neutraceuticalassociation
Eu joint research center

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MIND: Milano Innovation District

MIND is a 1 mln sqm
innovation park district
combining its scientificand clinical inclinationin the Life Sciences
sector with a uniqueinternational platform tocapitalize the global andlocal research and businessexcellences.
Born on the premises of Milano World Expo 2015 themed “Feeding the Planet, Energies for Life”,
the site represents an overall public-private investment of > €2.54 bln. It will host over 60,000
people/day by 2026, making it one of the top 200 Italian municipalities in terms of population.
The district site developers, Arexpo and LendLease, in partnership with local institutions andthe Italian Government, implemented a strategy to attract businesses and investments aimed atenhancing the scientific and clinical excellence of the 4 district’s anchors – The University of
Milano Statale, the Galeazzi Hospital, the Human Technopole Foundation and Fondazione Triulza- in the smart city and life-sciences areas, securing the interest of about 100 companies for the first2021 office release. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) recently signeda €200 mln deal with Lendlease which will support the development of the West Gate Area (to bereleased in 2023).
Synergies created within the ecosystem evolve around 3 priority strands:8• big data and AI, smart materials and devices,• genomics, personalized medicine and value
based care,• advanced and additive manufacturing.
All this is turning MIND into a breeding groundfor health prevention, improved diagnostics andadvanced healthcare, always keeping in mind a
citizen-centred paradigm.

FEDERATED INNOVATION™
Within the MIND framework, 36 global
corporations federated under a new legal entity,
working together in a virtuous and collaborativeenvironment, to accelerate the translation ofideas into new products, processes, and services
that will contribute to the economic revival of
Italy.
The new ecosystem is organized within 11 key
sectors, with the goal of creating and boosting
innovation, in an open and collaborativeenvironment.
This model is designed to go beyond open
innovation and proprietary innovation, while

contributing to the goal of making MIND aunique scientific park where all the players
contribute to the ecosystem and make themselves
available to create value for the whole territory.
Companies joining the Federated Innovation™
@MIND will develop innovative projects
in the areas of: Agrifood Tech & Wellbeing,
Construction Tech, Greentech & Circular
Economy, and Life Sciences & Health Care,among others.
The network is organized in 5 different layersof participation, working together to develop
innovation initiatives, including the possibility
for companies registered in Italy, and for talents
to join the network without admission costs andspecific forms of commitment towards the MIND
district, while being able to submit their projects
to the community and find valuable partners anduse the District as a test-bed to experiment theirtechnology.
A structured system of interaction aimed at
TT and open innovation between universities,
research bodies and companies, is organised indifferent thematic areas with access to research
infrastructure, know-how, funds and networks.

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FROM PATIENT JOURNEYTO CITIZEN JOURNEY
MIND stems from the identification of asystematic approach for mapping diagnostic
therapies and the related pain points: newtreatments and patient needs are therefore
identified, while possible interventions outside
the places classically used for treatment are
expanded. We like to call it: the bridge between
the City of the Future and the Hospital of Future.
DIGITALIZING THE HEALTH SECTOR
Transforming cities into “distributed hospitalsof the future” will be possible by combining
advanced technologies: a digital revolution starts
with the creation of a unique platform to connect
existing databases. This will enable to:• create a real-time big-data ecosystem,beyond traditional health-data offer new
services, and measuring their impacts;• work on the definition of a new clinical andtech research model that leverages shareddata and new evidence generated by thedata-ecosystem.
TT, OPEN INNOVATION AND START-UPS
Entry barriers in the Pharma, Biotech andMedical Devices market remains high due totechs, laboratories and equipment costs, butalso because of regulatory barriers and the
difficulty for smaller organisations to interact
with both universities and large companies.
MIND partners launched and benefit from anumber of initiatives:• “Seed4Innovation” - S4I - Open Innovation
initiatives and a scouting program is
promoted by the Public University of
Milano Statale (UNIMI), to pollinating
the University expertise and coachingon the best knowledge transfer solution
and business models. “Proof of Concept”
projects and fund are aimed at increasing
the TRL of innovative solutions andreducing the market access. The Italian
Ministry for Economic Development(MISE) and several industrial partners (e.g.
Novartis Pharma and Lamberti) are cogranting the initiative.

BIO4DREAMS
Bio4Dreams is the first Italian business nursery and an international aggregator specificto early stage startups in the Life Sciencesindustry. Following a tailored approach andthanks to its domestic and international
academic and industrial partnerships, Bio4Dreams provides managerial expertise, IP
support and seed financing in order to help
projects to access the market. The company
also secured the management of the sharedlaboratory (MIND Shared LabsTM) and office spaces within the District that will host
both startups and more mature corporates
looking for flexible landing solutions.

• “Primary Site” - The IRCCS Galeazzi,
together with LendLease, Confindustria MD
Confindustria MD Servizi, Bio4Dreams andPlusvalue and Confindustria MD is leadingon the Primary Site pilot project aimed at
supporting 10 innovative start-ups or SMEs
operating in the Medical Device sector thatneed support to acquire or regain the CE
mark.
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HUMAN TECHNOPOLE

Located inside Milan Innovation District MIND, Human
Technopole is a large-scale, government-funded (€ 2 bln),
research infrastructure that contributes to improving humanhealth and well-being by developing new approaches topersonalised and preventive medicine.
Currently hosting >100 international
researchers, mainly working on Genomics,
AI and computational biology projects,
it will reach its full capacity in 2026 with
>1,000 scientists recruited.
Prof. Iain Mattaj is the Director of theinstitute since January 2019. With its tostate-of-the-art laboratories and facilities
and highly qualified scientific staff, HT is
expected to be enlisted in the world’s mostadvanced hubs thanks to the acquisition of
exclusive computing, storage and imaging
equipment.

and international scientific community.
In 2021, Human Technopole, in collaboration
with the Italian Ministry of University andResearch, launched the first edition of its Early
Career Fellowship Programme: an initiative to
make HT resources and infrastructure available
to young researchers at the start of theircareer, to support them in the developmentof their scientific activity in Italy. Five young
researchers are therefore given the opportunity
to compete for a grant worth €200k peryear for five years, for an overall investment of€5 million.

Genomics studies, big data analysis
and new diagnostics techniques will besupported by unique technologies which
will be made available to the wider national
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ONCOLOGY AND GENOMICS
Lombardy is one of the main contributors to CAR-T research at thenational level and the region with the largest number of hospitals andresearch institutes dedicated to oncology. 17 of them are based in Milano.

In 2020, the Region started
the three-year Pagencell
Project, aimed at creating
CAR-T allogeneic cell banks
obtained from umbilical cords’
blood and stored with an“off the shelf approach”, withthe participation of 5 local
academic cell factories.
SAN RAFFAELE HOSPITAL
Among them, San Raffaele Hospital is also oneof the of the 6 institutes of excellence selectedto participate in the European consortium EURECART, created with the goal of bringing the
EU at the forefront CAR T-cell immunotherapy.
The Hospital is recognized as IRCCS (Scientific
Institute for Research and Healthcare) for its
research in molecular medicine and innovative
treatments application, created with the goalof bringing the EU at the forefront of CAR T-cell
immunotherapy.
HUMANITAS HOSPITAL
Research Hospital Humanitas, also features a
CAR-T dedicated unit with hematologists expert
in stem cell transplant, two teams of professional
nurses with specific competences in apheresis
and CAR-T patients, and a multidisciplinary
team of doctors expert in the treatment of toxic
collateral effects of the therapy.

EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF ONCOLOGY (IEO)
IEO strives for excellence in cancer prevention,
diagnosis and treatment, developing clinicaland scientific research coupled with innovative
organization and management, while paying
constant attention to the quality of the service
offered to patients. Its Women Cancer Center(WCC) brings together experts from IEO’s
multidisciplinary gynecology and senology
programs.
NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE (INT)
Established in Milano in 1928, it stands as acenter of excellence for pre-clinical, translationaland clinical research activities, and clinical care.
INT has 464 inpatient beds and provides morethan 400,000 outpatient visits per year. The
Institute carries out a public service characterized
by a high level of diagnostic, therapeutic andresearch activities.
GENOMICS
Milano is emerging as a Genomics hub, withseveral leading institutes including Human
Technopole, San Raffaele Institute for Gene
Therapy, National Institute of Molecular
Genetics and the Italian Institute of Technology
Center for Genomic Science, which are bringing
prestigious international researchers to the city as
well as young talents with dedicated scholarships
programs. Large industry players have alreadyinvested in the area: Illumina, Eurofins,
Macrogen and Rose Genomics, among others.
In recent years, local universities have started
to offer specific courses in this field, such as
the Master’s Degree in Bioinformatics for
Computational Genomics, provided by the
University of Milano and the Polytechnic.

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OPENZONE«We uniquely create value in healthcare,by fostering community, competencies and capital»

OpenZone is a place where Research isturned into Business, a campus dedicated to
Health on the doorstep of Milano, created by
Zambon to consolidate its way of thinking andexperiencing research.
Funded entirely by private capital, it’sfounded on an approach geared towards
open innovation, conceived to build bridges
between different competencies, languages,
and worlds. Today, it has 16,500 sqm of officespace and 10,500 sqm of laboratories (1,600
of which Good Manufacturing Practices).
OpenZone is home to 34 organizations,
including some of the world’s foremost
biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and advanced
gene therapy companies, such as AGC
Biologics, EryDel and Axxam.

Work is underway to expand the campus,
which, thanks to a total investment of €65
mln, will grow in size by 2022 to a total areaof 37,000 sqm providing space for up to
1,200 people. The first building completed
was Z-LIFE, the new Zambon HQ inaugurated
in 2019. Furthermore, in 2020 the expansion
plan has marked a significant milestone: the
new efficient and sustainable power plant,a true control room to regulate the campus’
energy needs in an environmentally-friendly
fashion.
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PRECISION MEDICINE
Italian Life Sciences companies have invested heavily in orphan drugs
and advanced pathology treatments related to cancer and otherdiseases of clinical-epidemiological relevance, such as auto-immune
and infectious diseases.
They are also at the vanguard of vaccines research. Around 300 new
Biotech products are currently being tested. Over €700 mln areinvested every year in clinical trials by the Pharmaceutic industry.
Biotech Sector: Quality overview

MILAN (Region)

Labour Availability / Quality

Greater London

Industry cluster

Barcelona (Region)

General Business Environment

Paris (Region)

Infrastructure & Accessibility

Munich (Region)

Living Environment

CLUSTER LOMBARDO SCIENZE DELLA VITA
Lombardy’s Life Sciences Cluster is the community dedicated to Life Sciences in the Lombardy
region. It brings together all public and private organisations – research, industrial and clinic –which work with expertise to foster progress in this sector in Lombardy and to improve the livesof all citizens.
The Cluster promotes networking among its members, facilitates the creation of newpartnerships, even internationally to create new business opportunities, optimises technology
transfer processes and encourages the growth of local skills and resources.
The Cluster gathers more than 110 members up to date and it is one of the members of the
Italian ALISEI Cluster. At international level it is part of a network that brings together all major
European bioregions and it is developing several collaborations i.e. Canada, Cuba and Israel.
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FUNCTIONAL FOOD

Consumers are increasingly
concerned with their dietsand the global functional
food and beverage market
is expected to grow 8%
annually by 2021. Italy’sfunctional foods market isthe largest in Europe andthe country is second in
the world (after the US) in
scientific production applied
to nutraceutical.
(source: ALISEI)

Milano is a hub for Italy’s agri-foods industry, and particularly functional foods, which is renowned
for its quality and innovation. The City is North of the Italian “food valley,” and close to the European
Food Safety Authority and European Nutraceutical Association in Parma.
In 2018, Milano’s ALISEI National Technological Cluster for Life Sciences partnered with the National
Technological Agrifood Cluster, C.L.A.N., to support research and technology transfer in the following
areas: nutraceutical, nutritional and functional foods.

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HEALTHCARE

Milano has one of the world’s most efficient and advanced healthcare
systems, and was early in introducing individual electronic health records. It
also pioneered an integrated “one health” approach.
Lombardy has more than 250 private and public hospitals, and 17 state-of-the-art research hospitals,
known as “IRCCSs” and conducting critical research in biomedicine and healthcare services
delivery. The city of Milano offers a state-of-the-art healthcare system, through a comprehensive
network of 30 public and private hospitals. Milano also has multiple medical centers dedicatedto its large international community, such as the American International Medical Center and theInternational Health Center. 12 hospitals have emergency rooms with dedicated assistance for foreign
patients. 60% of the total inward FDIs in Italy are directed to Lombardy. It has the EU’s highest
concentration of multinational companies with 5,300 multinationals (47% of the national total)
employing over 420,000 people (1/3 of the multinationals have offices in Milan).

Bracco is an international healthcare group and a leader in diagnostic imaging. Bracco Groupdelivers healthcare services which are provided by the Centro Diagnostico Italiano, a polyclinic
based in Milano. With 21 satellite units in the city and Lombardy, the CDI offers 150,000 diagnostic
procedures in different services of prevention, diagnosis, rehabilitation and personalized treatment,with a focus on radio-surgery and day-surgery. The company’s production plant based in Milano hasadvanced automated technologies which follow “Good Manufacturing Practices” parameters. During
complex manufacturing phases, more than 500 analytics - chemical, physical and biotechnological are checked.
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TALENT BASE
Milan stands out for the quality of its human capitaland education system at every level.
The City is known as the Italian economic capitaland is a dynamic and creative environment for startups.
• It counts for 8% of Italy’s workforce,(51% of Lombardy’s workers) and it has thehighest employment in financial and businessservices as a percentage of total employment. It
also boasts some of the most advanced scientificcenters in Europe and creates 22% of Italy’s
patents.
• Milano has 11 universities and academies,
which admit 190,000 students each year,
12,200 of which internationals (Assolombarda)• High percentage of international residents
compared to peer cities. Increasingly becoming
known as a “laboratory for creativity andinnovation”• Four of Milano’s universities are specifically
dedicated to Life Sciences and medicine, and are
top-ranked in Europe: Università degli Studi diMilano ranks 36th in Pharmacy & Pharmacology,
Polytechnic of Milano ranks 34th in Chemical
Engineering.

Young people and women also play an important role in Italy’s pharmaceutical sector: 55% of the newly
employed people are under 35, 42% of the workforce are women, and and 52% of them are in researchindustries. The chart below shows the average salaries for most researched profiles in Industry.

JOB FUNCTIONSLEVELCOMPENSATION KIT

Research Technician
Clinical Project manager
Chief Scientific Officier

Employee / Middle manag.
Middle Management
High Management€ 37,346 - 39,960 / € 49,719 - 52,371€ 61,437 - 74,500€ 78,372 - 117,491

Assolombarda is the association which gathers the companies operating in the Metropolitan Cityof Milano and in the provinces of Lodi, Monza-Brianza and Pavia. Part of Confindustria (the Italian
Entrepreneurial Association), it is the largest territorial body of the entire entrepreneurial system inthe country. It advocates for the interests of nearly 7,000 companies (employing 412,000 people) andprovides a broad range of specialized services. About 750 of its associates operate in the Life Sciencesindustry, testifying the relevance of the sector for Milano and Lombardy Region, where it represents
12.7% of the local GDP for added value. In the past 10 years, Assolombarda has built a solid aggregationand valorization model to further promote what is a strategic and fast-growing compartment for the wholeterritory. This effort resulted in the creation of the Life Sciences Hub, aimed at developing a regional andnational strategy to push forward Italy and Lombardy’s excellence and promote it internationally.
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MANUFACTURING

Lombardy is the top manufacturing region in Italy and the third largest in Europe by number of
employees. It has specific competitive advantages in Agri-Food, Aerospace, Life Sciences, Living
Environments, Smart Communities, Mobility, Green Chemistry, Energy, Environment, Constructionand Smart Factories.
The birth-rate of knowledge intensive (KI) startups in Lombardy is 38,6 every 100,000 residents(less than 30 in Germany). Startups in Lombardy boast also a high (5.9%) and medium-high(13.5%) performance of growth, better than those in Bayern region. Startups related to Industry 4.0
had a birth-rate of 4 every 100,000 residents, with 1/3 of them experiencing a mid-high growth
performance, the best results in Europe.

Thermo Fisher Scientific is the world leader in service science, with revenues of more than $24
billion and 70,000 employees globally. Thermo Fisher Scientific employs approximately 2,000 people
across its facilities in the Milan Region, Ferentino and Parma. Its Milan regional offices specializein scientific instruments, equipment, software, services as lab equipment, lab plastic ware, mass
spectrometry, chromatography, molecular biology, protein biology, clinical and diagnostics, pharma
development, pharma manufacturing and more.
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RESEARCH EXCELLENCEAND CLINICAL TRIALS
Milano has a rich network ofacademia, research organizations,
national and international regulators,
government and complementaryindustries, which provide a unique
breeding ground for science,research, innovation.
Italy is a top-three EU country for R&D inpharmacology, toxicology, and pharmaceuticalresearch and clinical trials.
Milano is one of the largest centers forpharmaceutical and medical device clinical
trials, with a particular focus on rare diseases.

Milan has a strong pipeline of drugcandidates. Recent breakthrough life
sciences discoveries include Zalmoxis®,
Strimvelis® and Holoclar®
University of Milano ranked 1st in Europe
and 4th worldwide for Covid-19 research.

UNIMI FOUNDATIONPowered by the University of Milano, UniMi Foundation represents its tech transfer hub
and incubator for the nurturing of innovative startups and SMEs looking for customized
laboratory spaces and offices. The Center is the gateway to the University’s talent pool,drawing on the skills of 3,000 professors, researchers and technicians from 33 departments, bridging the academia with the market. The University is a strategic partner in innovative
projects and processes for companies and institutions using research as the key to improving
their competitive positioning. UniMi Foundation offers a 6,500 sqm space and hosts 19 companies (mainly Life Sciences) and 4 university labs to date.
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SOME STATS
1,500

6,650

of European clinical trials
conducted in Italy with €700m
invested over last three years

Life Sciences and healthcare
researchers with impressive
track records

42%of biomedicines approved in
the EU are produced in Italy63%

of clinical trials in Milan are
financed by private stakeholders &nonprofit organizations€5,04Blnspent on R&D
in Lombardy every year

33%

of Italian patentapplications to the EU
patent office comefrom Lombardy€349.2Mln
European Regional Development
Fund allocated to Lombardy(R&D only)

to 2 out of 10
advanced clinical trials
approved in the EU are Italian20

Illumina is dedicated to benefiting humanhealth by unlocking the power of the genome.
Founded in 1998 and head-quartered in San
Diego, Illumina is a global leader in genomics,
an industry at the intersection of biology andtechnology. The company has almost 8,000
employees across the world who support
customers in 115 countries. Over $600
million are invested in R&D every year to makesequencing more accurate, faster and cheaperso that this technology is available to everyone
around the world. Today, there are around 17,000
Illumina sequencing instruments installed in theclinics and laboratories of over 7,300 customers
across 140 countries.
As host to some of the most importantscientific universities and almost 30% of Italian
incubators, Milan has a strong tradition of
innovation. Illumina is investing in the city
to support research and collaborations withnational and regional institutions, and tostrengthen connections with pharma and biotech
companies. By providing genomics expertiseto the region, Illumina will support Milan in
becoming one of Europe’s leading healthcare
innovation ecosystems.

Macrogen Europe, the Amsterdambased subsidiary of South Korean biotech
multinational Macrogen, chose Milan from ashortlist of several European locations for its
latest expansion. Macrogen is among the fivemain genome sequencing service providers
in the world, offering Sanger sequencing andnext generation sequencing to universities,
R&D centers and biotech companies. The
new office and laboratory space is about tobe inaugurated at the UniMi Foundation, theincubation and technology transfer centerof the University of Milan. Milano&Partners
supported the company with dedicated site
visits to the main scientific parks of the cityand other administrative information on hiring
local young talents.

Janssen, the Pharmaceutical Companies ofJohnson & Johnson, is creating a future where
disease is a thing of the past by fighting
sickness with science, improving access withingenuity, and healing hopelessness withheart. The company focuses on Hematology,
Oncology, Immunology, Infectious Diseases& Vaccines, Neuroscience, Pulmonary
Hypertension, Cardiovascular & Metabolism.
The WHO included 18 of its molecules in thelist of essential medicines for humanity. They
are a strategic partner of Bio4Dreams, the first
fully privately-owned incubator, certified by the
Ministry of Economic Development, focusedon early-stage lifescience startups, particularly
within the Innovation CircleTM at MIND –Milan Innovation District, a space connecting
stakeholders across the tech transfer value
chain to support startups and entrepreneurs inboosting their time-to-market strategy.

US pharma company Jaguar Health chose Milano
to establish its new fully-owned subsidiary
Napo EU with the mission of expanding accessto crofelemer in Europe (excluding Russia) toaddress significant unmet gastrointestinal medical
needs. The branch is in charge of the development
and distribution of the locally manufactured
Mytesi®, a plant-based drug approved by the U.S.
FDA for the symptomatic relief of noninfectious
diarrhea in adults with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviraltherapy. With the support of our partner Borsa
Italiana, Jaguar Health received a detailed
overview of Italy’s SPAC listing framework for thelaunch of Dragon SPAC on AIM Italia. Having
completed its merge with the vehicle, Napo EU
S.p.A. is now operational and hire a team of 20
people by 2022. Milano HQ will also manage theadditional expansion plans in the rest of Europe
and pursue conditional marketing authorization
for short bowel syndrome with intestinal failure(SBS-IF).

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AGC Biologics is a leading CDMO company
present in Milano since November 2020
following the acquisition of MolMed, theiconic medical biotech company (€ 20.4
mln turnover) founded in 1996 in Milan as a
spin-off from San Raffaele Scientific Institute.
In 2016 the company received conditional
marketing authorization for Zalmoxis®, a
new type of therapy based on geneticallyengineering donor immune system T cells tocarry an inducible “suicide gene”. The facilities
in Milano, based in OpenZone, focus on
research, development, manufacturing andclinical validation of cell and gene therapies
to treat cancer and rare diseases, with over
220 researchers and technicians employed.
After the acquisition, the Board announced an
ambitious investment plan, forecasting a 30%
production growth and appointing Milano’s
headquarters to be in charge of managing AGC
Biologics branches worldwide.

Medtronic plc, headquartered in Dublin, isamong the world’s largest medical technology,
services, and solutions companies. The goalis alleviating pain, restoring health, andextending life for millions of people around theworld. Medtronic was founded in 1949 andtoday serves hospitals, physicians, clinicians,and patients in more than 150 countries
worldwide. Medtronic Group in Italy is second
only to Ireland in the EU for the operating
activities of the Corporation. Overall, during
the last 2 fiscal years the group invested here
more than €40 mln. There are about 2,000
employees in over 7 different sites of Medtronic
group in Italy: Milano hosts the Italian HQ and
XValue Lab, a multimedia hub of excellence
for supporting training and education. Here
Medtronic promotes “Make”, a II level
Master which aims at enhancing acquisition,
development and strengthening of innovativecompetences to manage Healthcare andMedtech scenarios.

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COMPETITIVE BUSINESSENVIRONMENT

Italy’s business environment for Life Sciences companies is beingtransformed. The country has created a modern regulatory and market
access framework for medicines. It has pioneered work in “managed entry
agreements”, and created a culture of “regulators as partners”, rather thanbarriers. As a result, Italy ranks first in the world for the number of valuebased, managed entry agreements signed with pharmaceutical companies.
Since 2016, the Italian Government has introduced significant reforms
to make the country more competitive and attractive for investments.
These include reforms in the public administration, the justice system,
taxation, the labour market - the “Unlock Italy” decree, national plans
for transport and logistics, and a new digital agenda. The government’s
commitment to strengthen the country’s attractiveness is confirmed not onlyby the importance of the reforms for business, but also by the presence of
substantial funds for development and research made available to foreign
investors.
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FISCAL INCENTIVESStartups

Innovation

Innovative Startups
Startups founded by <5y with < €5m
revenues are exempted from certain
taxes and access to flexible employment
contracts. Either 15% of their costs
are in R&D or 2/3 of personnel hold a
Master’s Degree or they are the owner/
licensors/depositaries of a registeredpatent/software. Tax relief for investors
in innovative startups (cap at €1m forindividuals, €1.8 for companies).

Development Contract

For large and innovative investments
in manufacturing, tourism andenvironmental protection for greenfieldand expansion projects of more than
€ 20m (€ 7.5m for food processing)presented by one or more small andmedium companies also in joint form.
Projects presented by foreign companies
providing an investment of at least € 50m
gain access to the Fast-Track procedure.
Additional funds for Fast-Track will beaccesible to companies investing in
the Green Economy, Biomedical andTelemedicine sectors.

Digital Transformation

The incentive supports the digitaltransformation of SMEs’ production
systems by financing the adoption oftechnologies consistent with the Industry
4.0 plan.

Human Capital
New Enterprises“Zero Interest Rate”

Investment programs with eligible expenses
up to € 1.5m to be implemented by microand small companies established by no
more than 12 months and composed, formore than half of members and shares,of people aged between 18 and 35 years
old or by women. Program duration notless than 3 years from project completion.
Benefits are granted in the form of a
subsidized loan (max. 8y) with a zerointerest rate covering up to 75% of theeligible expenses.

Sabatini Law 2021

The measure subsidized investments in
Instrumental Assets by micro and SMEs
and is designed to support the purchase(or leasing) of machinery, equipment,
plants, capital goods for productive
use and hardware, as well as softwareand digital technologies. Government
subsidy plus a public contribution equal
to the interests on the loan stipulatedwith the bank, up to at an annual rateof 2.75% for ordinary investments
and 3.575% for investments in digitaltechnologies. Coverage up to 100%of the total, <5y duration for amountbetween €20k an €4m.

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FISCAL INCENTIVESStartups

Innovation

Smart&Start Italia

To support innovative startups,
established for no more than 60
months with a strong technologicaldimension. Interest-free loan up to 80%of the total investment (10y repayment).
Up to 90% if the startup is composed
exclusively by women or people aged
<35, or if it includes at least one Italian
PhD working abroad and willing toreturn in Italy.

Human Capital

ACE Allowance for corporate
equityPatent Box

To encourage and mitigate thecapitalization of companies by cutting
net income and mitigating different
tax treatments applied to companies
funded with debt/equity. The benefit
entails a notional deduction from
corporate income taxable base on
company revenue (IRES) equal to the netincrease in the “new equity” employedin the company, multiplied by a yearly
determined rate (1.3% for FY 2020).

50% tax reduction for incomesarising from direct use or licensing of
qualified intangible assets: property
rights, industrial patents, trademarks,
designs and models, etc.

Employment

Tax Credit on Assets
Companies investing in tangible andintangible capital goods accordingly
to the Industry 4.0 national strategy
can benefit of a wide range of tax
credits from 15% (intangible assets) to
20-40% (tangible assets). Companies
investing in ordinary tangible assets
can benefit of a 6% tax credit.

Industry 4.0 training
40% tax credit on the cost of
personnel employed in training
courses for the acquisition andconsolidation of skills in “4.0” fields.

Firms that employ workers under theage of 35 are granted a reduction in thelabor taxes for the first three years of
their employment, up to a maximum of
3,000 euros per year.

New Residents
Employees, self-employed, researchersand professors who move to Italy andhave not been resident in Italy in theprior 2 years can benefit of a special
tax regime with a tax exemption
equal to 70% of their incomes for
5 years (extendible under certain
circumstances).

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ITALIAN QUALITY OF LIFE

Milano and its
attractive surroundings
offer a modern,sophisticated way oflife, in a safe, tolerant
and open social andcultural environment.
It is a city that makes
everyone feel at homeright away and has
opened its doors toforeign investors andworkers.
English is widely spoken. Its quality of life is among the best in the world, with high-quality housing,a comprehensive network of international schools, a state-of-the-art healthcare system, a thriving
artistic and cultural environment, a unique food scene, and efficient public transportation systems.
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Milano stands at the heartof Europe, connected to all
the continent’s great cities.

Intercontinental Direct Flights to:
San Francisco, New York, Shanghai, Hong Kong,
Tokyo, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, Riyadh, Abu Dabhi,
Cyprus among others

With 3,000 weekly flights to 185 destinations,
Milano has efficient and rapid connections with
Italy, Europe and the world. The city is two hours
by plane to most EU capital cities, and two hours
drive from the Alps in the North and the seaside
in the South.
Milano has three major airports: Malpensa-MPX
for intercontinental destinations, Linate-LIN
with convenient connections to European and
Italian cities, and Orio al Serio-BGY, which is anoperating base for European low- cost airlines.
Milano Central railway station is a major hub
for international railway travel, with daily trains
to Paris, Munich, Barcelona, Vienna, Bern,
Lugano, Nice, and Marseille. The city is also
at the junction of major highways networks,
which connect the city to France, Switzerland,
Germany, Austria and Slovenia, as well as to theports of Genoa and Venice-Mestre.
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FIND OUT MORE
Milano&Partners is the investment promotion
agency of the city of Milano, founded by
Milano’s Municipality and Milano’s Chamber ofCommerce. In collaboration with Promos Italia,
it supports the soft landing of foreign investmentsin the metropolitan area and promotes Milano’s
excellence by attracting foreign talents andboosting its competitive environment.
We support foreign companies and startups expanding theirbusiness in Milan with several free of charge services throughout
the entire process:• Facilitating the dialogue with the Public Administration andproviding bureaucratic support with visas, permits, anddocumentation.

Investments
Opportunities

Analysis& researchBusiness
Start–Up• Specialised support accessing national and local fiscal incentives.
• Location scouting.
• Networking with local stakeholders and universities aimed
at recruiting specialized human capital and connecting withpotential partners.

Location
Search• Information on the local supply chain (fees may apply).
• Introduction to a selected network of legal, fiscal, labour, andreal estate consultants.

In collaboration with:

MILANO&PARTNERS

Recruitment& HR

Credits,
Incentives& Finance

Education& Information* Information concerning Companies that are part of the Life Sciences community are
updated periodically. We apologize in advance for potential omissions. If you notice any
missing or wrong information please feel free to reach out.

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Get in touch with us:
invest@yesmilano.it
tel. +39 02 85155259
www.yesmilano.it/en/life-sciences