| CARLONE, Claudio |
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Claudio Carlone was born in Rome, in 1952, and currently lives in Milan, where he works as an entrepreneur and consultant. Carlone received his degree in chemical engineering and biology from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and later did research in the biotechnology sector. In the 1980s, Carlone launched a career in communications, focusing on the relationship between science, enterprise and society and the role of new technology in development. In 1989, he founded Hypothesis (of which he is still president), an agency devoted to the diffusion of scientific and technological culture and the provision of strategic consulting services in the hi-tech sector for a wide variety of companies and institutions. The company is a partner of the Nuovo Mercato di Borsa Italiana Spa (the Italian Stock Exchange). Carlone has chaired or participated in numerous international conferences and congresses and, among his other activities, he coordinated the City of Milan 's Committee for Science and Technology (CAST), whose members included the Nobel laureates Renato Dulbecco and Carlo Rubbia.
Venture Capital, Patents and the Market: The case study of Biotechnology in Italy
Claudio Carlone, Chairman, Hypothesis, Milano, Italy.
The biotechnology sector has recently returned to the limelight as a result of the notable increase in sales by biotech firms. Estimated annual growth rates have a trend that is even more positive in the light of the setback that affected this sector.
Biotechnology is gaining more Venture Capital (VC) in the USA as investors encounter fewer regulatory hurdles for new drugs. Its rise among VCs comes as some of the biggest names in traditional tech predict biotech will usurp technology in terms of impact.
Biotech is one of the riskiest industries because start-up costs are especially high, as are failure rates. It is surging, in part, because the US Food and Drug Administration is speeding-up the drug-approval process.
In terms of the performance of listed companies, the biotech sector is comfortably outstripping the other indices. At the global level, equity investment in biotech reached its peak in 2000. Since 2001 onwards, there has been a considerable decrease in the capacity of these companies to attract financial resources.
At the European level the trend is strongly positive, with investment amounting to about 1.4 billion Euros in 2002. Nevertheless, the ratio of biotechnology patents to total patents is far higher in the USA than the European Union and Japan .
Moreover, countries as Canada , Denmark and New Zealand, have the highest ratio of biotechnology to total patents. In contrast, Italy and South Africa have the lowest.
If we examine the picture in greater detail, biotech accounts in Italy for just 1% of total investment, mainly focusing on mature companies. Start-ups have just a small and dwindling presence.
The key problems for investment in start-ups in the biotech sector will be reported together with solutions available to boost investment in the risk capital of biotech companies.
In addition, some Italian equity investment experiences show the importance of this form of investment as a growth instrument.