Incentives, IP and smaller companies – the story of Chiesi and Holostem

With over 7,000 medicines in development, new treatments will continue to change patients’ lives, slowing disease progression, avoiding illness and reducing overall costs for healthcare systems. But developing a new medicine is a long, complex and risky process with no guarantees of success.

According to a blog posting on the website of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), over the coming weeks, the trade group will look at a number of new medicines and the role that pharmaceutical incentives (or IP) have played in their development.

Privately-held Italian drugmaker Chiesi Farmaceutici and Holostem Terapie Avanzate have jointly developed Holoclar, the first stem-cell-based product to be approved in Europe. Chiesi licenses the international marketing authorization for Holoclar; the treatment is manufactured by Holostem.

Holostem is a spin-off company of the University of Modena, Italy, with around 70 employees. It was founded in 2008, and is partly owned by Chiesi and the scientists Michele De Luca and Graziella Pellegrini.