Made in Italy and pharma: a success based on cooperation

Interview with Sergio Dompé on the key role played by technological innovation and system collaboration to strengthen Italian competitiveness in Life Sciences-related packaging.

According to data from UCIMA's 13th National Statistical Survey referring to 2024, the pharmaceutical sector supplied by packaging and packing machine manufacturers recorded an increase of 17.2%, making it an important driver for the packaging and processing market.

The pharmaceutical, biotech, nutraceutical and cosmeceutical sectors are closely connected with the supply chain of R&D, innovative molecule development and packaging solutions, a key issue for an industry in which consumer and product protection have a strategic role to play.       
A further driver of innovation is AI, increasingly present in everyday conversation and an enabling technology in health-related fields, where it can play a central role in both development and trial and pre-market testing phases, with a significant acceleration in time to market.     
ItaliaImballaggio met with Sergio Dompé, executive chairman of Dompé Farmaceutici, and ambassador of an industrial culture linked to the Made in Italy concept, not only thanks to the company's record results (turnover of 1.234 billion in 2024, with 82% exports), but also because he chairs the Leonardo Committee, a think tank devoted to the enhancement of national excellence in all industrial sectors.

The pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors in Italy and Europe have experienced steady growth.

In 2024, exports rose to €54 billion, resulting in a production value of more than €56 billion for the pharmaceutical industry in Italy, up from €52 billion in the previous year. This result is entirely due to growth on foreign markets, where Italy has done better than the EU in the last 5 years (+65% vs. +57%). This figure should be interpreted together with the percentage of the total manufacturing figure accounted for by medicine exports, which has almost tripled in 20 years (from 3.5% in 2004 to 9.1% in 2024).

What is this multi-year trend based on and driven by?

“Looking at the economic data,” notes Sergio Dompé, “the potential of the Italian production system is particularly compact, with a 35% increase in patent applications, compared to an EU average of 23, and exports reaching 90%, with a consequent increase in packaging. These data are indicative of an innovation ecosystem in Italy, in which digitalisation and the Internet of Things (IoT) are increasingly present, with performance far above the country average and a growth forecast estimated at around 8% by 2027, for a turnover exceeding $495 million. It is thus evident that the pharmaceutical and medical sector are acting as a driver for the country in terms of economics, innovation and professionalisation, supporting R&D in medicine, which is now able to guarantee increasingly long life expectancy and accounts for more than 80% of pharmaceutical sector spending. Another advantage is the improvement in quality of life offered to 350 million people who have had access to primary care for the first time in recent years, reducing mortality in some populations by 60-70%. In this framework, R&D and digitalisation are indispensable prerequisites for ensuring innovation and bringing prosperity to society, on which the pharmaceutical and medical world is focusing its efforts.”

The spread of AI is increasingly significant in all sectors of society, but particularly in high-tech fields such as pharmaceuticals. Dompé is on the leading edge in this regard: what role do AI and machine learning play in the pharmaceutical and biotech market?

“Connected and generative technologies have two purposes: to reduce errors and improve production. These innovations have provided the industry with advanced tools for defining strategies based on complex, elaborate and appropriate information, where the use of integrated digital technology brings increasing productive and social benefits, reducing operating by 20% to 30% and containing treatment errors by up to 50%. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are radically transforming not only research and development models, but also the way care is conceived. Consider the increasingly important role of the predictive analysis of clinical data or the personalisation of treatments. These approaches are able to boost diagnostic accuracy, optimise treatment protocols, and improve the overall patient experience. In addition, from the perspective of economic sustainability of health systems, their use helps to reduce health inequalities, which it has been estimated could cost up to $1 trillion by 2040.  Our hope is that these new models might also have a positive impact on another issue of great importance to our industry: animal testing. While it currently remains necessary in many areas, we now know that AI can help us to do without it. My hope is that we will be able to significantly reduce the use of animals, to the point where it can ultimately be abolished altogether. In this regard, I am pleased to mention the example of the FDA, which within the framework of the New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) is establishing an open access database with information on toxicity and drug response from animal and human models. This would be another major achievement of pharmaceutical research. It has been estimated that more than 9 out of 10 drugs, despite passing preclinical testing in animals, later fail in human studies.”

What should we expect from the large-scale application of AI to the world of healthcare?

“Artificial intelligence can really change the way we take care of people, making diagnoses more accurate, treatments more effective, and care better suited to each patient. Machine learning enables us to analyse huge amounts of clinical data, identify recurring patterns and make predictions that help physicians make better and faster decisions. It can also make a major contribution to reducing inequalities in access to care. Caution must of course be exercised: if we want AI to be really useful, we need to address issues regarding access to technology and how to use it responsibly.”

Italy and Europe are leaders in the field, in a political and economic context in which the importance of networking at all levels is often discussed. What role does cooperation play, albeit in a competitive environment?

“As chairman of Pharmintech by Ipack-Ima and the Leonardo Committee, I believe it is crucial to enhance the contribution of Italian pharmaceutical companies to Italian-made products. We are talking about highly specialised sectors, with a strong international vocation and the ability to drive development for the country. This industrial excellence is also a driver for strategic segments such as pharmaceutical packaging, the performance of which is improving all the time, with sales reaching €10 billion and confirming its leadership position on a global scale. Opening up beyond our borders and creating a critical mass of highly specialised companies is essential to give visibility to a productive Italy that may perhaps be less glamorous than the big luxury or automotive brands, but is by no means any less important. In a global context with increasing background noise, systematisation requires a solid and shared culture of collaboration, in which drug, machine and technology manufacturers join forces to build a network capable of integrated industrial excellence and able to compete and grow in international markets.”

Made in Italy is synonymous with beauty, but it is also about technological culture and a passion for expertise...

“Manufacturing networks cannot fully realise their potential without sound professionalism,” Dompé remarks. This very combination of technical expertise and passion is one of the hallmarks of Italian industry. The success of the Made in Italy concept is founded on entrepreneurs and highly skilled workers, motivated by a strong sense of belonging and dedication. This effective difference, built over time, is reflected in tangible results: in 40 years, Italian pharmaceutical production has gone from 18 percent to 70 percent of the European total, and the country is now the continent's main manufacturing hub. This goal could not have been achieved without a concerted effort on the part of businesses, which not only drive the development of the industry, but also make an essential contribution to the growth of the country system, as the data clearly show.”

What prospects do you see for the market in terms of technology and performance? What innovations are on the way in pharmaceuticals, and how will they impact packaging design?

“Recent research by the Life Science Innovation Observatory of the Polytechnic University of Milan has yielded some very interesting data. For example, Italian pharmaceutical and medtech companies are focusing heavily on the development of health apps and sensors for clinical data collection. This is an important first step that will enable us in the future to seize the opportunities for a new frontier in medicine: digital therapies[1]. With regard to packaging design, pharmaceutical innovation will lead to solutions that seek to be increasingly personalised, traceable and sustainable. New biological drugs and advanced therapies, for example, will require smart packaging able to ensure proper storage, facilitate treatment adherence, and interact with digital tools. Packaging will no longer be simply a container; it will be an integral part of the treatment experience, with a view to greater responsibility towards the patient and the environment.

Finally, it is important not to overlook environmental considerations, which are also of growing importance for the pharmaceutical field. From this point of view, by researching innovative materials and optimising packaging, it is already possible to reduce waste and environmental impact, thus addressing the sustainability concerns that are increasingly being voiced also by patients.”