The life sciences supply chain represents “a wealth of great strategic value” for Italy: the words of CEO and General Manager Francesco Starace offer a good summary of what emerged from the “100 Italian Life Sciences Stories” report, which was created jointly by Enel and the Symbola Foundation. The report describes 100 stories of Italian excellence in the life sciences – in particular in the health, pharmaceutical, technological and clinical research sectors – and their strength has been further brought to the forefront by the pandemic.
This supply chain “contributes to creating economic development and jobs moving in the direction of a humanistic concept of the future,” said Enel’s CEO and General Manager Francesco Starace on May 10 during the presentation of the report. The numbers confirm this: with a production value of 225 billion euros (the figures for 2018), this supply chain provides jobs to 1.8 million people and generates an added value of 100 billion euros. If we also consider the related industries, the life sciences supply chain accounts for 10% of Italy’s GDP. Furthermore, it has recorded an export growth rate of around 170% in the last ten years.
“The life sciences supply chain represents a wealth of great strategic value for our country, and contributes to creating economic development and jobs moving in the direction of a humanistic concept of the future”
Francesco Starace, Enel CEO
The report comes in the year of Italy’s presidency of the G20: the theme of health, together with that of the climate crisis, is at the center of the path undertaken last December and which will end on October 30 and 31 at the Summit of the G20 Heads of State and Government in Rome. After examining examples of “Made in Italy” excellence in the renewable energy, circular economy, e-mobility and automation supply chains, Enel and Symbola decided to focus on health technology in their annual report on Italian innovation.
As CEO Francesco Starace explained, “the pandemic has caused us to rethink many aspects of daily life, starting with attention to health. For this reason, together with Symbola and in collaboration with Farmindustria, we decided to describe 100 stories of companies, researchers, scientists, universities, startups and health facilities, which work every day to ensure the health of people and to make available the best tools for taking care of and improving patients’ quality of life.” The report highlights “real excellence for our country, a wealth of skills, innovation and technologies which are appreciated and recognized all over the world,” Enel’s CEO and General Manager said in conclusion.
Enel editorial staff