Lorenzo Wittum, president and director of AstraZeneca Italia, has been elected for the two-year period 2022-2024 as chairman of Eunipharma, the group that within Farmindustria brings together the 35 pharmaceutical companies with European and Japanese capital active in our country.
With AstraZeneca since 2010, Wittum has held positions of increasing responsibility in various therapeutic areas globally. Since 2018 he has been president of Italy and has focused on innovation and research. The transfer of the tricolor headquarters of the Anglo-Swedish company to Mind, the new innovation district on the outskirts of Milan, which he strongly desired – underlines a note – represents a strategic lever for the country to accelerate the development of ideas and their transformation into concrete projects to support patients and society as a whole. Wittum is a member of the Presidency Committee of Farmindustria and of the LifeScience group of Assolombarda.
“It is a great pride for me – he declares – to take the helm of Eunipharma, a group of companies strongly oriented towards innovation, which bring to the country significant investments in research, production and employment. The pharmaceutical industry as a whole is a partner strategic industrial development and innovation for the country. Investing in pharmaceutical innovation means investing in health, improving the life expectancy of citizens and attracting new resources and talents for the economic and social development of the country. It is necessary to strengthen the strategic alliance between private companies and public institutions, and European and Japanese pharmaceutical companies want to play a key role within Farmindustria to accelerate this process “.
The team of 35 European and Japanese companies within Farmindustria – the note reports – employs about 24 thousand people in Italy, excluding induced activities, and has made investments of 4 billion in the last 5 years, of which 60% in Research and Development and 40% in production, which represent more than a third of the entire pharmaceutical sector in Italy.
According to data processed by Farmindustria, the companies of this group in 2021 generated 9.5 billion in turnover, equal to approximately half of the total pharmaceutical market in Italy, also thanks to the 40 production sites operating throughout the country, which contribute in a fundamental way of exporting the whole sector.
