Industry associations

Assobiotec: Set up in October 1986 within the Italian Federation of  the Chemical Industry (Federchimica), Assobiotec is the Italian Association for the Development of Biotechnology, representing more than 100 companies and science & technology parks operating in Italy and involved in various biotech-related fields: pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, agro-food, fine chemicals, environment, processing industry and equipment. They include emerging biotech companies and small to medium enterprises, as well as the biotech divisions of large organisations.
Assobiotec provides entrepreneurial support to Italian and EU biotech developments and is the landmark for Italian companies involved in production and marketing of products derived from biotech applications.

EuropaBio: EuropaBio's mission is to promote an innovative and dynamic biotechnology-based industry in Europe. EuropaBio, (the European Association for Bioindustries), has 66 corporate and 7 associate members operating worldwide, 4 Bioregions and 22 national biotechnology associations representing some 1800 small and medium sized enterprises.

Parks and incubators

Italian Science Park Association: APSTI – Associazione Parchi Scientifici e Tecnologici Italiani  is the national network of scientific and technological parks. The majority of PSTs are members  (31 members) accounting for virtually all of the Italian regions, with the aim of supporting economic development through innovation.

Insubrias BioPark:The Foundation’s aim is to encourage and support initiatives for the biotechnology sector development, with particular interest to life sciences and men’s health in the transfrontier geographic area of the Insubric Region.

Toscana Life Sciences: Toscana Life Sciences Foundation (TLS) is a non-profit organization founded in December 2004 by a group of public and private institutions in Tuscany, including the Province and Municipality of Siena, the Tuscany Region, the Monte Paschi Bank and Monte Paschi Foundation, the Chamber of Commerce of Siena, the Universities of Florence, Siena and Pisa, the Scuola Normale and Scuola St. Anna of Pisa, and the Hospital of Siena.

Institutions

European Community Research and Statistics (CORDIS): Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), Funding

European Medicines Agency: The European Medicines Agency is a decentralised body of the European Union with headquarters in London. Its main responsibility is the protection and promotion of public and animal health, through the evaluation and supervision of medicines for human and veterinary use.

U S. Food and Drug Administration: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It consists of six product centers, one research center, and two offices.

Italian Medicines Agency: The Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) is the national authority responsible for drugs regulation in Italy.
It is a public body operating autonomously, transparently and according to cost-effectiveness criteria, under the direction of the Ministry of Health and under the vigilance of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Economy. It cooperates with the Regional Authorities, the National Institute of Health, Research Institutes, Patients’ Associations, Health Professionals, Scientific Associations the Pharmaceutical Industry and the Distributors.

Italian Ministry of Health The main topics are about health, association of hospitals, biocidal products, medical devices, cosmetic products, quality assurance and health professions.

Italian Ministry of Research, Science & Technology: Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR). MIUR can finance the R&D activities which fall in the following two categories: Industrial Research (IR), planned research or studies which aim at gaining new know-how needed for the development of new products, processes or services or for their improvement. Precompetitive Development (PD), the development of the results of the Industrial Research activities into a plan, a project or a design of a new, modified or improved market driven product, process or service. PD include also the development of a first prototype that can not be put directly into the market or in the production process. PD activities can be funded only if strictly needed to validate the results then the IR and if their cost is lower of the cost of the related IR activities.

NIH (U.S. National Institute of Health): The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency—making important medical discoveries that improve health and save lives.

WHO World Health Organization: WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.

Legislation

EU Legislation - Eudralex: The body of European Union legislation in the pharmaceutical sector is compiled in Volume 1 and Volume 5 of the publication "The rules governing medicinal products in the European Union".

Patents

The World Intellectual Property Organization Patent Scope: The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It is dedicated to developing a balanced and accessible international intellectual property (IP) system, which rewards creativity, stimulates innovation and contributes to economic development while safeguarding the public interest.

The European Patent Office: The European Patent Office (EPO) provides a uniform application procedure for individual inventors and companies seeking patent protection in up to 40 European countries. It is the executive arm of the European Patent Organisation and is supervised by the Administrative Council.