On Monday, January 30, 2023, the University of Brescia, Antares Vision Spa, and Dompé Pharmaceuticals Spa established the company “Lifescience Innovation Good Healthcare Technology S.c.ar.l.” (or simply LIGHT S.c.ar.l.). The constitutive act took place yesterday in the Apollo Hall of the Rectorate. Participating were Rector Prof. Francesco Castelli, Prof. Marina Pizzi, leading the company’s Board of Directors, Engineer Emidio Zorzella, CEO of Antares Vision Spa, and Dr. Marcello Allegretti, Scientific Director of Dompé Pharmaceuticals.
The newly formed LIGHT company, a public-private partnership created under the PNRR and funded for the public part with Next Generation EU funds, will manage a technological infrastructure of operational innovation in the fields of artificial intelligence, bio-pharmaceuticals, and digital health care. It will become a center of significant scientific importance, an incubator for innovative projects, and a promoter of experimental research.
The primary operational headquarters of the infrastructure will be located on Branze Street, within the North Campus of the University of Brescia, specifically in the CSMT building (Innovative Contamination Hub), which will undergo significant renovations. This headquarters will then be equipped with noteworthy technical instrumentation. Other locations of the infrastructure will be in Naples, L’Aquila, Aprilia, and Travagliato, at the premises of some project partners.
The technological infrastructure aims to foster a novel interaction between the University’s scientific research development capabilities and the private sector’s aptitude for technology promotion and transfer. It encourages a virtuous model of public-private collaboration; an innovative management approach that can enhance technology transfer mechanisms and encourage the systematic use of research results by the production sector.
The modernization of the technological infrastructure, valued at approximately 20 million euros, will be funded 49% by the Ministry of University and Research using PNRR funds and the remaining 51% by private partners (Antares Vision and Dompé Pharmaceuticals, contributing 38% and 13% respectively), selected through public procurement procedures.
The LIGHT company will coordinate the use of funds for modernizing the technological infrastructure and manage it. The infrastructure’s innovative services will be available to members and third parties; specific access rules will be defined in dedicated regulations.
The leadership of the company’s Board of Directors is entrusted to Professor Marina Pizzi, professor of Pharmacology and former Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Brescia. She has been a strong believer in this ambitious project and has worked passionately for its realization. The Board of Directors also includes Professor Elisabetta Ceretti, professor of Industrial Quality Management at the University of Brescia, Engineer Emidio Zorzella, CEO of Antares Vision, Engineer Adriano Fusco, Digital Healthcare Department Director of Antares Vision, and Dr. Marcello Allegretti, Scientific Director of Dompé Pharmaceuticals. The Board of Directors will be supported by a Scientific Committee and an Infrastructure Manager.