Siena's Biotecnopolo starts up again: it will be Europe's vaccine hub, with super bacteria also in the crosshairs

Italy and Europe are trying to ensure that they are no longer unprepared for pandemics and new health emergencies such as antibiotic-resistant super-bacteria, which already pose a real threat. A valuable shield against new and old deadly enemies of health will come from Siena, where the Biotecnopolo with its National Pandemic Centre is taking its first important steps: after the initial difficulties linked to its take-off - the idea of this maxi centre arrived at the end of 2021 in the midst of Covid with an initial endowment of 350 million linked to the Pnrr - the Biotecnopolo of Siena is finally becoming operational and after having hired the first tranche of 18 researchers, with the aim of bringing them up to 150 within a couple of years, it has also achieved a first significant milestone.

With an official announcement that has arrived in recent days, the EU Commission has kicked off the 'European vaccine hub', the major project to strengthen Europe's capacity to respond in the event of future pandemics, capable in times of emergency of producing vaccines and first drugs within four to five months of the discovery of a new pathogen thanks to technology and a dense network of European centres. The programme, financed through the EU's Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (Hera) and the Eu4Health fund, envisages a total investment of up to 130 million euros, of which around 32 million euros are allocated to Italy. The lead role has been entrusted to the Biotecnopolo Foundation of Siena, which will use 21 million of this endowment and will work alongside, among others, three reference institutions such as the Pasteur Institute in France, Vaccinopolis in Belgium, and the German Dfiz-Umr centre, the equivalent of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. For Italy, also involved are the University of Siena, the Sclavo Vaccines Association, VisMederi, the Istituto Zooprofilattico delle Venezie and Reithera, all already leading players in the research and development of solutions against infectious diseases. Coordinating the project on behalf of Italy is Rino Rappuoli, scientific director of the Biotecnopolo and an international reference figure in field research.

'The Biotecnopolo will not be an island but a network: a junction between research and enterprise, between university and public health, between Italy and Europe,' Health Minister Orazio Schillaci explained yesterday. He recalled how Siena, 'with its biotechnological, pharmaceutical, academic, and clinical tradition, is the ideal place to establish a European hub of excellence'. The minister also emphasised the strategic value of the infrastructure already approved by the European Commission: 'We can no longer afford external dependencies for the production of vaccines and innovative therapies, we must build an autonomous and timely capacity to respond to emergencies. "The Foundation will have the task of transforming a great vision into a solid operational reality, integrating innovation, public health and technology transfer," added Schillaci, who then concluded by explaining that "the Biotecnopolo of Siena and the European vaccine hub are a challenge and a promise: that of a stronger, more independent, fairer Europe of health.

In addition to its commitment on the European health emergency front, the new centre will also become the operational arm of the new Italian pandemic plan now being examined by the State-Regions Conference. The Biotecnopolo, having overcome its initial management difficulties, has already received not only European funds, but also other resources, winning international grants from the American National Institute of Health (NIH), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), and the University of Siena as part of the cascade of calls for proposals to be implemented using NRP resources (mission 4 - Education and Research). Ambitious projects are immediately on track, such as the development of therapies that will target one of the most dangerous super-bacteria: Klebsiella. "We have been working on monoclonal antibodies unique in the world, which act on antibiotic-resistant bacteria; now we are working to bring them into the clinical phase, through calls for proposals," explained scientific director Rappuoli. Also ready is a national doctorate on epidemic-pandemic risk infections promoted in collaboration with several Italian universities.