Enhancing scientific studies by supporting research institutions in technology transfer and outlining the strategic plan for the coming years. These are the points addressed by Marco Baccanti, General Director of the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT), during the launch event of ITTBioMed – Innovation & Technology Transfer in Biomedicine.

Foundation members already include 4 IRCCS

The Foundation, a private entity, was established in December 2022 and is composed of the company Arexpo S.p.A. and currently four Italian IRCCS Foundations (Institutes for Research Hospitalization and Care with a Scientific Character): Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico (Milan), San Matteo (Pavia), Carlo Besta Neurological Institute (Milan), and National Cancer Institute (Milan), all located in Lombardy.

Baccanti continued, stating that the Region, aware of having “organizations very skilled in producing scientific literature but with limited impact in terms of technological transfer,” initiated a process that “led to the creation of joint patent committees and the development and organization of policies.” FITT is established to coordinate and enhance the results of the research activities of its members, assisting them in post-research through technology transfer. That is, the process that “acknowledges that something was born in the IRCCS environments and may one day benefit a patient, thanks to something invented years earlier.”

Furthermore, the Foundation is in the process of defining its strategic plan and will meet with the community of heads, clinicians, and researchers from the five IRCCS institutions, along with Arexpo S.p.A., which together constitute the corporate structure.