IT IS AN EXAMPLE of that virtuous triangulation that can be triggered between entrepreneurial spirit, university knowledge, support from a business incubator, plus the fertile base of a territory that has been at the forefront of life sciences for decades. Siena Imaging, founded in 2017 as a startup of the University of Siena, deals with the development of software for the large-scale analysis of magnetic resonance images, to evaluate brain damage and try to characterize the diagnosis of the disease, to example in cases of Alzheimer’s or multiple sclerosis. “We had developed this path for fifteen years in academic activity, collaborating among others with the University of Oxford, then the decision to broaden the field of action with one of our startups”, explains Marco Battaglini (in the photo above), researcher from University of Siena and CEO of Siena Imaging, which he founded together with Nicola De Stefano, full professor of Neurology at the Department of Medical, Surgical and Neurosciences, and Giacomo Demurtas, computer scientist.
At the beginning, seven years ago, there were three of them and two doctoral students, today they have eighteen employees, the turnover is around one and a half million euros with a growth of 230% in five years, the resonances analyzed have exceeded two hundred thousand and the balance sheets have received the Industria Felix award, an award that every year goes to the best companies for management performance. “This result surprised and made us proud – says Battaglini –, when we started in 2015 we knew nothing about invoicing and businesses, we took two years to study, taking weekend courses and trying to structure the startup as best as possible. And here we are here, rewarded by a system that automatically analyzes the financial statements of sixty thousand companies and rewards the hundred most virtuous ones, this is also an achievement that comforts us”.
The relationship with the University remained fundamental, on the one hand firm, on the other necessarily on parallel paths: “Once the startup period was over – observes Battaglini – Siena Imaging and the department of Medical, Neurological and Neurosciences continued the collaboration by creating a joint laboratory”. In the middle there is the attention stimulated in the world of the pharmaceutical industry, “not so much for the speed, but for the analysis capacity and accuracy of our work – says Marco Battaglini –. We have thus become a reliable partner for clinical trials. The first place in a contest sponsored by Roche Italia and in which over two hundred companies participated was an important step in our growth path”. As is the relationship with Toscana Life Sciences, the incubator of companies in the life sciences sector. “We couldn’t have started in any location by renting an apartment – observes Battaglini -, we would never have been able to structure ourselves. Here we speak the same language, there are the appropriate certifications, the necessary controls for our activity. There is an environment that , despite the differences in individual activities, always falls within the healthcare field. And there is the great tradition of this city which, together with the University, forms a decisive humus”.
How will Siena Imaging develop in the future? It is impossible to look into the crystal ball of a world in constant movement. The basic idea, however, runs along two paths: “A fundamental part is and will remain that of research – says Battaglini –, already now four employees out of eighteen are researchers, a high average. The other is that of the provision of services to pharmaceutical companies, thanks to the work of the research group. The goal is to be able to make our biomarkers available to doctors, which would be a fundamental step for the company and also, we are convinced, for the analysis capacity of the staff. healthcare”.
A further step that would close a circle, bringing Siena Imaging technology into hospital facilities and thus allowing the opening of a new front beyond that of the pharmaceutical industry. And guaranteeing further growth to those numbers that underlined the development in the first years of life: the two researchers from the beginning are now structured, the job opportunities attract young people from the Sienese university but also from other parts of Italy or from ‘abroad. “The Covid period – observes Battaglini – was an opportunity for growth for us, we improved our infrastructure and the possibility of work. Our competitors are based in global metropolises, we had to overcome the gap of being in a small city thanks to the tools and technology we use, but also the network of relationships that allow us to operate at the highest levels”. And here we return to that environment, which has already made the fortune of many companies in Siena, which combines the consolidated tradition in the life sciences sector, a centuries-old University, innovative management tools. And in the background there is also the great game of the Biotechnopole, still in the (prolonged) launch phase but which could enormously influence the entire Siena district which has dozens of companies, from multinationals to startups. But that’s another story.
