Leading companies in the pharmaceutical world, strongly rooted in the Tuscany region and playing a key role in the local ecosystem while also focusing on global markets: these are the defining characteristics of the companies that have formally joined Tuscany Pharma Valley, the first network of Italian multinationals in the pharmaceutical industry. Kedrion is one of these companies: "We're really happy and honored to be a part of this project" – said Danilo Medica, Italy Country Manager. "A project that we believe to be successful for everyone involved: both for the participating industries, which will be more competitive, and for the Region of Tuscany, which will become more attractive to companies that want to invest in the Life Sciences industry."
The formal signing of the network contract took place on Tuesday, March 26 in Florence, at the headquarters of the Tuscany Region, where the President, Enrico Rossi, was present, among others. Besides Kedrion, Molteni SpA and Eli Lilly Italia SpA are members of the district, while GSK Vaccines Srl is supporting the initiative because it considers it to be of great strategic value for the entire region.
As a first step, the agreement gives the green light for the creation of a logistics and digital services platform to support Life Sciences industries, as already provided for in the Memorandum of Understanding signed in March 2018 with the Ministry of Economic Development, the Tuscany Region, the Port Authority, the Livorno Freight Terminal and Toscana Aeroporti, all of which are involved in the Toscana Pharma & Devices Valley project launched in 2014. The Platform will be built in the province of Livorno and will act as a logistics and distribution hub in central Italy for the four companies involved. It will be a fully automated and digitized regional logistics and distribution hub for finished products and packaging materials in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industry, which because of its size and efficiency, will benefit the surrounding regions, increase the internationalization and export capacity of companies, promote the development of related industries and lead to the creation of more jobs.
"In this way, the Tuscany Region will be able to build an environment that harnesses the synergies and efficiencies that result from operating according to a district-oriented approach", Medica added. "Today, this Region represents a third national area in terms of concentration and turnover in Life Sciences (more than 400 active companies, a total production of about 6 billion euros, 11,000 employees, ed), but this would be the first area to use a district-oriented approach."
The Tuscany Pharma Valley district was created with the goal of establishing a stable and organized collaboration between these businesses by using a shared strategy for developing and managing the logistics platform as well as other initiatives related to the Toscana Pharma & Devices Valley project. The project will integrate the expertise of the network's participants in order to increase innovative capacity and to optimize the management of logistics services, through research, experimental development, innovation, training (which can also be offered in partnership with the academic system) and public and private research. Organizations, such as the Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, will also act as facilitators and system aggregators.
