Building the Bioeconomy: Notes from the Italian Parliament
On December 9th, Arsenale CEO Massimo Portincaso took part in a panel at the Italian parliament on the Clean Industrial Deal and Italy's path toward industrial renewal.
The setting was the Aula Nuova dei Gruppi Parlamentari in Rome. The panel, Talent, Innovation, Investment: The National Opportunity of the Clean Industrial Deal, was opened by Federico Eichberg, Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT), and brought together leaders from across the cleantech ecosystem: Alessandra Accogli of Sinergy Flow, Maria Cristina Porta of Fondazione ENEA Tech e Biomedical, and Mike Vasconcelos Tocchetti of Energy Dome.
The conversation spanned long-duration energy storage, technology transfer, venture capital, and the role of public procurement in accelerating industrial transformation. Massimo's contribution centred on biomanufacturing and the infrastructure required to unlock its potential at scale.
Forty Years of Industrial Reality
There is a tendency to speak of biomanufacturing as though it were speculative. It is not.
For four decades, the pharmaceutical industry has used biological systems as industrial platforms. Insulin, GLP-1, and countless other therapeutics are produced by programming organisms to manufacture specific molecules. The technology is proven. The science is mature. What remains confined, however, is its application. Biomanufacturing today operates almost exclusively in the pharmaceutical domain, a world of low volumes and high margins, where products measured in grams can command thousands of euros. The infrastructure, the processes, and the economics have all been designed for this context.
The question is whether we can extend this capability beyond pharmaceuticals to the broader material economy. Proteins. Polymers. Surfactants. Fragrances. Collagen. Biosurfactants for detergents. The theoretical potential is vast. A McKinsey study estimated that 60% of physical inputs to the global economy could, in principle, be produced through biological means.
The challenge is not scientific. It is industrial.
The Bottleneck Is Infrastructure
To move from laboratory to factory requires more than a breakthrough in the lab. It requires an entirely different infrastructure, one designed not for milligrams but for metric tons, not for margins of thousands of euros per gram but for costs measured per kilogram.
This is what Arsenale is working on: building the bridge between proof-of-concept and industrial production. Rethinking not just the biology, but the reactors, the processes, the data systems, the entire cost structure that determines whether a molecule can compete in the real economy.
But no single company can build this alone. What is needed is a capital architecture that supports the full journey from bench to factory. Venture capital plays a role early on, but it cannot fund the construction of production facilities. Project finance requires clear revenue streams and offtake agreements. Between these two lies a gap, what some call the valley of death, where promising technologies stall for lack of appropriate capital.
Patient capital. Regulatory clarity. And critically, the mechanisms for industrial transfer, not merely technology transfer, that allow innovation to move at the pace required to remain competitive.
Build or Buy
Italy is well-positioned for this transition. It has the research base, the industrial heritage, and the talent. What it lacks is the systemic infrastructure to translate these advantages into industrial leadership.
This is not an abstract concern. The bioeconomy is being built now, in China, in the United States, and increasingly across Europe. The countries that develop the infrastructure to scale biomanufacturing will build economic and geopolitical power for decades to come. Those that do not will find themselves importing what they could have produced.
The question for Italy, and for Europe more broadly, is straightforward: will we build the bioeconomy, or will we buy it from elsewhere?
The Conversation Continues
The panel at the Chamber of Deputies was one moment in a longer dialogue. It brought together policymakers, investors, and industrial operators to address a shared challenge. The Clean Industrial Deal, now taking shape at the European level, offers a framework. But frameworks require implementation. Implementation requires coordination across government, industry, and finance.
Arsenale will continue to contribute to this conversation, not as an advocate for our own interests, but as a participant in a broader effort to build the industrial infrastructure that Italy and Europe require.
The work continues.
Event Presented by Roma Startup and Cleantech for Italy.