(Finance) – In Italy the ecosystem of research and innovation in Life Sciences it is becoming progressively more competitive, with several areas of excellence but also important gaps that distance it from more advanced countries. With a score of 4.42 out of 10, Italy ranks 8th out of 25 countries in theEuropean Uniongaining a position compared to 2020 (+11.7% growth), but still remaining far from the podium, currently occupied by Denmark (7.06), Germany (6.56) and Belgium (6.12), and remaining behind Sweden (5.81), France (5.51), the Netherlands (5.12) and Spain (4.78).
Italy excels in terms of effectivenessinnovative ecosystem as the 2nd country with the highest score (4.95), behind only the Germany (10), boasting the first place for number of scientific publications in Life Sciences (90,650), 4th place for number of patents obtained in the sector at the EPO (European Patent Office) and 3rd place for exports of the entire sector. The country’s main gaps concern qualified human capital, for which it ranks only in 12th place. In fact, Italy is 14th for graduates in Life Sciences subjects and still has few STEM graduates, equal to 18.5% per 1,000 inhabitants, compared to 29.5% in France and 24% in Germany. Furthermore, it ranks 14th in terms of the share of researchers active in the life sciences (only 2.8%), behind the benchmark countries and the top EU performers.
To confirm the urgency of intervening in particular on capital human are also the recent recognitions of ERC (European Research Council) starting grant to support European scientific excellence: with 57 grants, in 2023 Italian researchers are the 2nd most awarded in the EU, behind the Germans. However, Italy is the only one of the large EU benchmark countries to have a negative net balance (-25 in 2023) between grants obtained by country and grants obtained by nationality of the Principal Investigator: a figure in continuity with what was observed in 2022 (overall balance of ERC Grants equal to -38) which underlines the difficulty in retaining the best talent within national borders. What keeps talents away from pursuing their careers in Italy are above all the lack of meritocracy (84%) and low and uncompetitive salaries with the rest of Europe (72%).
They are the results that emerge from the new White Paper on Life Sciences in Italy which includes theAmbrosetti Life Sciences Innosystem Index 2023 (ALSII 2023), created by the Community Life Sciences of The European House – Ambrosetti and presented during the ninth edition Technology Life Sciences Forum 2023, which took place in Milan on 13 September.
The Index, which measures the competitiveness of the research and innovation ecosystems in the Life Sciences of the European Union countries, has in fact compared 25 European Union member countries taking into consideration the data of the last eight years, through the analysis of 13 indicators grouped within four dimensions: human capital, vitality of companies, resources to support innovation, effectiveness of the innovation ecosystem.
“The new Ambrosetti Life Sciences Innosystem Index (ALSII) places Italy in 8th place overall out of the 25 countries of the European Union, in the range of countries with medium-high performance, but still far from the top positions occupied by Denmark, Germany and Belgium. It is positively observed that the country has gained a position in 2023 compared to 2020 and is positioned in eighth place among the fastest growing countries. The ecosystem of research and innovation in the Life Sciences is therefore improving in recent years, but the gap compared to the best European performers still needs to be closed”, he comments Valerio De Molli, Managing Partner and CEO The European House – Ambrosetti. “Specifically, the Index results highlight the urgency of intervening on human capital, improving the retention of our best researchers and the attractiveness for foreign talents”.
For this reason, to integrate the Index, Community Life Sciences conducted acognitive investigation with protagonists i researchers Italians winners of ERC grants in the disciplinary area of Life Sciences in the last 5 years – both transferred abroad and remaining in Italy – to highlight the main reasons that cause the “Talent flight” abroad. “Researchers who have gone abroad – explains De Molli – first of all point out the presence of funds and financing dedicated to research in the sector, the quality of scientific research and the ease of progression in the academic career: these are decisive elements in the attractiveness of the ecosystems of other countries and it is necessary to highlight them to allow our country to focus its efforts in the areas in which foreign countries are most competitive”.