In May 2020, the InCube (acronym for INtegratori INnovativi per l'INfiammazione, or “INnovative INtegrators for INflammation”) project was approved by the then Ministry for Economic Development (MISE – today the Ministry for Business and Made in Italy, MIMIT). The project, presented by IBSA as the leading partner, aimed to develop innovative food supplements for the prevention and non-pharmacological treatment of chronic inflammatory states, through an open innovation model that exploited the synergies between public and private research centres. In addition to IBSA’s three Italian research centres – located in Ariano Irpino, Cassina de’ Pecchi and Lodi, respectively – the project involved the Department of Experimental Medicine of the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli and Okolab, a Campania company at the forefront of biomedical research.
An ambitious programme, for a total investment of approximately € 5 million and a duration of 4 years, co-financed by the European Union – European Regional Development Fund, part of the National Operational Programme “Enterprises and Competitiveness” 2014-2020 – Axis 1 Investment priority 1.b Action 1.1.3 – in favour of industrial research and experimental development projects in applicative sectors consistent with the National Smart Specialization Strategy “Intelligent Factory” and “Agrifood” – Ministerial Decree 5 March 2018 and D.D. 27 September 2018.
Today the project is concluded and, despite the complexities related to the pandemic, the objectives have been fully achieved, and exceeded. The final objective indicated during the presentation of the InCube project was in fact to obtain at least two innovative products for food supplementation useful for the prevention and non-pharmacological treatment of chronic inflammatory states. At the closing date, the integral development of four innovative food supplements had been completed, and three of these had also been successfully launched on the Italian market, as well as on several foreign ones:
