400 million on diagnostics (from CT to ultrasound) – Corriere.it

In public, call Aunt Diana Dr. Bracco. Discreet, Bocconian, a past in the investment banking of Citibank in London, New York and Milan, Fulvio Renoldi Bracco wanted to be a doctor. At 58, he is leading the pharmaceutical group towards a new phase, that of global precision diagnostics. Not that Bracco doesn’t already work in the field, on the contrary: among the leaders in diagnostic imaging. His, for example, the contrast medium iopamidol to perform CT scans and others for magnetic resonance, ultrasound, radiopharmaceuticals for nuclear medicine. But the commitment is now to launch new products and consolidate the presence not only in the classic United States and Europe but also in China and Japan. Remaining a family business: We are not looking for partners and aim to grow. We have a solid business and international prospectssays Fulvio Renoldi Bracco.

the son of Adriana Bracco, sister of Diana. He inherited the name from his grandfather and if Diana remains president and CEO of Bracco spa (which belongs 100% to the family) to him, as vice president and chief executive officer of the largest subsidiary, Bracco Imaging, who entrusted the future of the group. The passing of the baton was announced by Diana already 12 years ago, to make the market understand that the family had no intention of leaving. With the international expansion plan centered precisely on imaging (the marketing of classic drugs, such as the historic Cebion, which ceased in 2016), the generational transition alongside coaching proceeds smoothly.

The industrial plan to 2028

We are completing the 2023-2028 industrial plan with 350-400 million industrial investments planned, which add up to the 8% of revenues invested each year in research – says Fulvio Renoldi Bracco, who is also vice president of Federchimica -. Diagnostics is one of the pillars of contemporary medicine e there is an important future for Bracco Imaging. Three trends say this: the lengthening of the average life span, the growing extension and the greater accessibility to treatment by the health systems despite the shortage of personnel, the technologies are increasingly advanced. After all, health services save money with early diagnosis, which is necessary for precision medicine. The more information you get about the patient, the lower the cost and the better the care.

The new headquarters

From 12 April the Bracco headquarters were transferred to via Folli 50 in Lambrate. the historic headquarters, renovated as a campus with genomics laboratories, spaces open to the public and eco-sustainable buildings. 370 of the group’s 3,700 employees (of which 1,400 in Italy) will work here. We expect the official inauguration in the autumn, says Fulvio Renoldi Bracco. A sign of continuity for the group which now accrues 88% of its revenues abroad and sells in more than 100 countries. The transfer goes in parallel with the long journey concluded in June by the entrepreneur between the USA, Japan and Chinato meet distributors and producers.

The alliance with Beijing

In Japan, on April 1, Bracco set up a company, Bracco Japanto better control the market, where it already has one of its nine plants. But China, the second destination country after the USA (Italy is the third), the objective considered essential, with no reverse gear. Here Bracco has had a factory for years with a local shareholder who has a 30% stake, Shanghai Pharma. He intends to strengthen the alliance. The Chinese are becoming very strong in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics – says the entrepreneur -. Despite the general cooling in relations with China, in June we approved the second investment phase with our Chinese partner, for around 20 million. In the expanded factory we will open a second line to also produce sterile vials, as well as assemble the active ingredients that arrive from Italy for contrast media. The relationship with China must be maintained. an important market, which must be controlled with productive resources.

The budget approved

On 6 July, the group founded 96 years ago by Elio Bracco approved the 2022 budget. The year ended for Bracco spa, of which Fulvio Renoldi Bracco is a director, with revenues of 1.782 million, up by 5.4% from 2021 although the impact of raw material and energy costs (Iodine increased by 70% in the last 12 months) led to a significant erosion of the gross operating margin, which nevertheless reached 306.3 million. THE73% of revenues come from Bracco Imaging, 20% from Bracco Medical Technologies. the company that produces devices, such as injectors for coronary angiography (It was 18%, the business that runs the most). 7% comes from the Cdi, the Italian diagnostic center. The USA covers 47% of the turnover, Europe 32%, China 11%. The goal for this year is to increase revenues by another 5-6%, reaching around 1.9 billion.

Portfolio and new products

There are also new products in the pipeline, not only to diagnose diseases, but also to treat them. We have enlarged the portfolio a lot, we want to improve the accuracy of CT scan, ultrasonography, MRI and nuclear medicine, says the entrepreneur: the four areas on which Bracco Imaging works. Seven molecules in the clinical phase, of which six are diagnostic and one is therapeutic. Two are in Phase 3 and one of these is the new tracer for rh-Psma nuclear medicine: a radiopharmaceutical to detect metastatic prostate cancer, approved in May in the US by the FDA for diagnostic use. It allows a targeted diagnosis – says Fulvio Renoldi Bracco – and can also be used with small variations for treatment. This therapeutic part is still being studied, in Phase 1. But it reveals what Bracco, which is also proceeding through acquisitions (the latest, in 2019, Blue Earth Diagnostic), wants to become. Among the molecules there is a second already approved in America, launched in the last 12 months: gadopiclenol. a contrast agent for MRI: It makes it more effective and safer, we want to bring it to Europe as soon as possible.

The new generation

Then there are the other lines of research. A fluorescence-guided surgery that outlines the tumor lesion for the surgeon. The other, microbubbles for molecular imaging for ultrasound, developed at the group’s Geneva centre: They recognize tissues where an angiogenesis process is underway, the production of new blood vessels associated with tumor formation and chronic inflammation. Meanwhile, the fifth generation is growing up. Fulvio Renoldi Bracco is planning a trip to Asia with his two sons aged 20 and 23. One studies economics, the other physics. Will they join the family business? For now, they are curious.

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