Rino Rappuoli, Global Head of Vaccines Research at Novartis, has helped transform the center that the Swiss multinational decided to base in Siena into one of the world’s leading vaccine laboratories attracting investment of over 900 million euro since 2006. A member of Aspen Italia’s “Italian talent abroad” group and one of the few Italian scientists to have been elected a member of the US National Academy of Science, Rappuoli reveals the secret of this success in the interview that follows.
How did Novartis’ center in Siena become one of the world leaders in vaccines?
Siena’s university has been an institute of excellence for over 700 years and has a well-established and internationally-recognized reputation in biotechnology. In 1904, Achille Sclavo, Professor of Hygiene at the university, founded the eponymous Tuscan Institute for Serotherapy and Vaccine Production, transforming the laboratory he had set up at his own home into an efficient structure with the help of a small group of students. Much time has passed since then. Today, we have become a touchstone in the field of health biotechnology, and since 2006, the laboratory has formed part of the Novartis group, which has chosen to continue investing to make it a center of excellence in the fight against infectious diseases.
What is required to create centers of excellence in Italy?
The most important thing is top-notch people. A team made up of high quality members, who are of different nationalities, and who are supported by efficient and modern infrastructure and equipment. And most importantly, you have to be very good at what you do and specialize in an area in which you’re sure you can compete best. Besides, a multinational company that invests in a center wants to back what it considers the best lab in the world. So basically, it’s not enough to be at the forefront in Italy if you are not also at the top of your game internationally. And what applies to investment definitely applies to talent: the labor market we have to contend with is global, as demonstrated at Novartis by the presence of researchers from 38 countries. If Italy does not become an attractive proposition for foreign talent, it cannot hope to retain its own researchers either.
How do you go about making Siena an international innovation hub for life sciences?
It’s necessary to invest in skills and expertise to retain the best talent. Modern scientific research requires teamwork. For this, you need to bring together people involved in basic research and those who carry out clinical trials, so as to create a pool of expertise capable of covering all aspects of biomedical research. And then you need to get the private sector on board. Siena’s life sciences center is a part of the regional district on life sciences and of the national cluster. This center works with some of the big names in the industry, but it also has relationships with more than 100 small businesses in the area, with a potential pool of up to 300. What unites us is the desire to attract talent. The more significant our accomplishments, the more we will be able to import talent of an international caliber, thereby creating a virtuous circle that can lead firms to become more competitive.
Is improving quality of life through biotechnology one of the next challenges on the horizon?
Unlike in the past, vaccines are no longer used just to treat children’s diseases. In fact, in today’s society, those most vulnerable are the aged and travelers. So the goal is to use the tools at our disposal to improve the quality of life of all age groups. Another exciting challenge that lies ahead is using vaccines to eradicate global poverty. Poverty is obviously not an illness, but infectious diseases are one of the major causes of poverty. For this reason too, we have partnered with the region of Tuscany in the humanitarian field and have established a pilot facility to come up with innovative vaccines for developing countries.
