With laboratory analyses, telemedicine, medical imaging and a wide range of biomedical products, from surgical steel syringes to defibrillator gauze, the biomedical industry is “the technological pillar of the health system”, according to Angelo Fracassi, president of Assobiomedica, the organisation representing about 90% of companies in a very diversified market.

It is a market that promotes 50 thousand product categories, with approximately one million catalogued items. “The biomedical industry,” emphasises Fracassi, “is extremely innovative by nature. It is enough to realise that 70-80% of our catalogue codes change every three years.” It is, therefore, a sector that is rapidly and constantly evolving, with a very strong tendency towards innovation. “The average Italian,” the Assobiomedica president remarks, “has an innate tendency towards imagination and therefore innovation. We see this in fashion and also in other sectors, such as our own, where ideas and the ability to be imaginative are decisive”. It is also a sector whose main capital consists of high-quality technology. Innovation and high quality are the factors that make the difference in the biomedical field and without them it would not be possible to provide reliable products in areas such as “medical imaging, which has become essential, playing a decisive role not just in diagnoses but also in the prevention of sickness,” Fracassi explains. Another characteristic of the biomedical sector is the central role played by small and medium-sized enterprises, which “are the most innovative,” Fracassi explains further, “because ideas often begin with them.” With many of the products in our industry, innovation often originates from an idea by an individual person.”

The biomedical sector is therefore proof that there are centres of excellence in Italy. The Assobiomedica president mentions a very significant case in regard to this: “the so-called miracle of the Mirandola district (in the province of Modena, ed.) is a classic example of a situation in which a true centre, at the cutting edge in dialysis and other fields, was built from scratch.” It is easy to see how exports are a centrally important factor for the biomedical industry, considering that 58% of production is exported. Their inclination to operate in foreign markets has always been a fundamental feature of the companies in the industry, for whom the ability to take advantage of opportunities available outside of Italy is an extra feather in their cap, particularly in this time of global crisis. The crisis has, nevertheless, been felt in all areas. In the internal market, in particular, the biomedical sector has had to face obstacles created “by the methods of payment that the Italian system uses with us,” Fracassi, explains, “involving typically long delays. In Italy, in fact, we have a single customer, which is the state, or the Italian National Health Service. Even if 30% of sales come from private companies, these are all, in fact, in partnership with the National Health System.” Despite the difficulties it faces, the biomedical industry nevertheless is a clear example of excellence, a proof that “the brains are here”, to quote the Assobiomedica president once more, and the existence of a favourable context is fundamental to avoid losing them.