IBSA in Campania: a partnership of excellence for a strategic hub in Southern Italy

Foresight and determination are the two driving levers that guided IBSA in making a strategic and significant choice: investing in Southern Italy by launching a network of valuable partnerships and opening, in the heart of Campania, one of three R&D labs, active on the most advanced frontiers of biomedical research.

It’s IBSA Italy’s centre in Ariano Irpino, in the province of Avellino, located within a hub of excellence in the field of scientific research. It’s here that IBSA researchers carry out some of the most delicate phases concerning the production of drugs: the development of preclinical in vitro and in vivo studies, essential to determine the efficacy and safety of the products.

The other flagship are the partnerships established and consolidated in recent years with the entrepreneurial research and development realities of Campania. In fact, the strong bond that the company built over the years with the local territory generated two major collaborations with the University of Naples Federico II and with the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”; in turn, these projects promoted the development of the NAHYCO® Hybrid Technology – an innovative way to obtain high- and low-molecular weight hybrid formulations of hyaluronic acid, which allows to increase the dosage and optimise the properties for intra-articular and intradermal use.

The products developed with this technology can indeed be used in different therapeutic areas. In particular, an unprecedented result was achieved in the orthopaedic field: hyaluronic acid was associated for the first time with sodium chondroitin in a formulation for intra-articular infiltrations suitable for the treatment of osteoarthritis, one of the most widespread conditions and today among the main causes of disabling pain.

In recent decades, an important cooperation has been established with Altergon, a significant strategic partner for the company, specialised in the biotechnological production of ultrapure hyaluronic acid, medicated plasters, transdermal patches, ODF (orodispersible films) and sterile pre-filled syringes; and with Biogem, a company specialising in molecular biology and genetics, the only centre in the South authorised for regulatory testing in the context of toxicity and biocompatibility studies. 

IBSA Italy is a member of both Materias – an accelerator for the launch of start-ups based on innovative materials – and Distretto Campania Bioscience, a non-profit public-private consortium company active in the Campania region and recognised by the Ministry of University and Research as a High Technology District, created to accelerate and structure the process of creating new businesses in the Life Sciences sector.

Research, development, innovation and prominent collaborations: with this formula, IBSA continues to consolidate a strategy that finds fertile ground in the Campania region, which has become a critical asset for the growth of the national pharmaceutical sector.

It’s no coincidence, in fact, that exports from the Campania region have quintupled in value since 2018, reaching € 6 billion last year (suffice to say that one in four manufacturing products exported from Campania is a drug). These numbers show how the significance of the Region is noticeably growing, in terms of both general economic indices and parameters more closely connected to innovation, research, development, the local territory and the community.