Generating value from the results of biomedical research and transferring them into clinical practice is a complex and highly specialised activity. Put simply, it can be divided into three key stages: the creation of innovation, usually identified with so-called “basic” research; the protection and development of the knowledge acquired; and its transfer to the market, or commercialisation, for large-scale clinical application.
It is widely held that Italy, while strong in the first stage, has significant shortcomings in the other two because of fragmented rules, a lack of specialist expertise and insufficient incentives. This is a gap where public-private partnership tools can make the difference.
New legislation
Recent legislative initiatives have sought to address these weaknesses, moving in the direction already set by EU law. The Horizon Europe programme allocates around €793 million to the life sciences for 2026-2027. Most of the funded actions aim to create integrated innovation ecosystems in which universities, businesses and research centres can collaborate on joint projects.
Italy has also acted. As part of the 2025 Annual Market and Competition Law, it adopted a Three-Year Strategic Policy Document on Knowledge Valorisation and Technology Transfer (“Atto di indirizzo strategico triennale in materia di valorizzazione delle conoscenze e di trasferimento tecnologico”, the “Atto”), designed to strengthen the link between research and the market through a series of measures.
The Ministry of University and Research and the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy approved the Atto in June 2026, for the period 2026-2028. It contains four main measures: the identification of certain priority sectors, including Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering; a National List of entities involved in technology transfer; Proof of Concept programmes, which help test whether a research idea can become a marketable product or service; and permanent public-private technology round tables to understand what industry needs and propose solutions.
The programme is funded with up to €250 million from the Technology Transfer Fund, allocated to the Fondazione ENEA Tech e Biomedical, which was renamed Fondazione Tech e Biomedical for the occasion.
At the same time, public research contracts are being simplified, with standard templates to manage licences and co-ownership of inventions between funders and researchers. This implements the Joint Guidelines on the management of intellectual property in collaborative and contract research, approved by Interministerial Decree of 26 September 2023.
Public-private partnerships (PPPs)
The Atto leaves ample room for public-private partnerships (PPPs). Some are a legacy of investments under the PNRR (Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan), such as the Innovation Ecosystems, the Extended Partnerships and the National Centres; others pre-date it, for example the IRCCS (Italy’s research hospitals, “Istituti di ricovero e cura a carattere scientifico”) or foundations active in technology sectors.
The PPP lends itself particularly well to managing technology transfer operations. It originated at EU level to govern cooperation between the public and private sectors in building infrastructure or running services, and has gradually taken on an ever broader meaning, to the point of covering many forms of contractual or institutional collaboration between public and private parties, some of them atypical.
A constant feature of PPPs is that they change the nature of the relationship between the public body and the private party, shifting its centre of gravity. The private operator is no longer (or no longer only) a contractual counterparty but becomes, precisely, a partner: a party that “takes part” in pursuing certain shared objectives.
The new National Health Research Plan 2026-2028, still awaiting approval, also relies on PPPs to strengthen collaboration between research bodies, universities, industry and public institutions, with the aim of fostering innovative technological and therapeutic solutions.
What it takes to make it work
The direction taken seems right, but success will depend on a few key factors: sufficient funding, adequate expertise and organisations able to respond quickly. To these familiar issues we can add a more specific one: rules are needed that make it easier to set up PPPs and align the objectives of the public and private parties, which often differ at the outset. In other words, the PPP has evolved into a genuine management model; the same courage is now needed on the regulatory front to create equally innovative rules.
For reasons of space, we will limit ourselves to a few points for reflection. First, the methods for selecting the private partner should be regulated differently depending on the stage of development at which the collaboration begins: the earlier the stage, the less strictly the principle of competitive public tendering (“evidenza pubblica”) should apply. Second, technology transfer offices within research institutions should have more flexible access to specialist and professional services, enabling them to supplement internal resources with expertise that is often unavailable in-house. Third, for institutional partnerships, and particularly those that lead to the creation of companies (including spin-offs and start-ups), more flexible rules are needed, both to make it easier for inventors to take part and to give full value to in-kind contributions (patents or know-how, rather than cash capital alone). Fourth, sectoral and, where possible, interdisciplinary networks between institutions and economic operators should be created (or strengthened where they already exist) and linked to the permanent technology round tables provided for by the Atto, so that they become a genuine reference point for stakeholders’ strategic decisions rather than a merely consultative forum. Finally, greater use should be made of impact assessment tools, both for patenting and for technology transfer initiatives.
