(Finance) – “The mission 6 of the PNRR makes over half a billion euros available to Italy for the biomedical research, a much richer loan than that obtained overall by our country since Horizon plan (111 million) and from the structural funds Program 2014-2020 (123 million). An opportunity that the national entrepreneurial and university system cannot miss, but which needs streamlining in the phase of verifying projects and disbursing resources in order to be truly effective”. Antonio Graziano, Health manager of the Italian export forum and president of the Piedmontese technological hub.
“According to the estimates, in 2028 the market for biotech it will be 3 times bigger than the current one – continues Graziano – but the propensity of private investments And public in the research & development sector in Italy it is not at the same level as the main European countries, and this is a powerful brake on development. Suffice it to say that, according to the latest available data, the value of Italian production (751 million) is the fifth in the EU behind France, Spain, Great Britain and Germany. We are also unattractive for venture capital with just 177 million invested compared to 4.9 billion in England. In terms of registered patents, the situation is no better: we are in sixth place in the old continent”.
“A photograph that however does not return the extraordinary wealth Of intellectual resources and skills of our country, often unable to express itself due to the labyrinthine bureaucratic procedures that curb the capabilities of companies and research centers – continues Graziano -. The system of financial management of the PNRR, as it was conceived, does not offer guarantees of speed for the disbursement of the loan tranches, and not only for what concerns the biotech sector and health in general”.
“The administrative structures of the competent ministries, for each mission, are already overwhelmed by the ordinary work on national and European funds, and are unable to dispose of the critical mass coming from Recovery funds – concludes the president of the Piedmontese technological hub -. A centralized system, at European level, for the liquidation of loans would be much more efficient, otherwise we risk failing the milestone objective and the final one of 2026″.