Doctor Petrone, the numbers of pharmaceutical exports in Campania explain why the paradigm shift in the South is credible. Am I wrong or is this not a surprise to you at all?
«Exactly – he replies Pierluigi PetroneCEO of the Group of the same name, national vice-president of Federfarma and dellIndustrial Union of Naples with responsibility for internationalization and president of Assoram, the longest-running supply chain of companies in the sector in Italy -. The value of production in Campania rose last year to 6 billion, an important share of the country’s total of 51 billion. In Naples there is a significant added value: and it is the profound synergy between the university system and businesses: a model that guarantees excellent research and quality employment opportunities.”
Let’s focus on the latter: Petrone Group, which in pharmaceutical retail alone has 40 companies throughout Europe, is looking to the territory for its employment needs?
“Absolutely. In the last two years we have hired 85 new employees for the Group’s administrative structure alone, all with high-profile skills and excellent knowledge of the English language. Many of them were trained in Campania universities but a significant portion also comes from abroad: these are young people who had moved across the border for various reasons and who returned to Naples for at least three reasons. The first: they realized that the territory had not remained with the “pizza, Camorra and mandolins” narrative; the second, Naples is also well connected to the whole world from a logistical point of view, thanks to the growth of Capodichino airport; the third, the absolute competitiveness of the international dimension of our Group”.
Petrone Group is controlled by a family holding company and has invested heavily in its four business lines (commercial, pharmaceutical, industrial and retail) without ever leaving Naples: why?
«It was a choice never questioned. Even when we built our current, new headquarters in Bagnoli, renovating the former Labriola high school, there were no doubts. Not only for the strong cohesion that my father and mother gave to the family (three sons, all with important responsibilities at the top of the Group: Pierluigi and Raffaele, twins, and Massimo, ed.). The truth is that for us Naples and Campania have always been a fundamental point of reference. It is here that my father Carmine began this extraordinary adventure in 1965, to satisfy the request of the shipowner and mayor Achille Lauro, of whom he was a friend, to provide on-board medical supplies to his ships, starting from the steamers that transported emigrants to the Americas. And today that we represent 25% of the affiliated rehabilitation of Campania and have also diversified into other sectors (such as Quick car parks, ed.) we can well say that business can be done here and with important results”.
And the headquarters of a historic Italian pharmaceutical group, Pierrel, can also be moved to the South.
«It was our winning bet in the industrial sector. With the engineer Bifulco we took over the debt of the previous ownership in 2008 and soon moved the administrative offices from Milan to Capua. Today the company is the third in the world for the production of dental anesthetics and after having taken over, a year ago, the dental division of 3M, a historic US giant, we are present with this brand in 68 countries around the world. Today in Capua we are on the fourth production line and we produce around 400 million tube-vials of dental anaesthetic”.
You travel often, the Group also branched out to North Carolina, in the USA, during the most acute phase of Covid. And now it is also focusing on the Euro-Mediterranean pharmaceutical hub: why?
«In the meantime, let me remember with a pinch of pride that one of the most famous American virologists, Robert Gallo, discoverer of the HIV virus, wanted me, the first European, on the board of the Global farm network, for my ability to bring together the companies that they carry out pharmaceutical research in the world and the sector business system. A recognition that ultimately connects to the Euro-Mediterranean hub project which aims to free up spaces for manufacturing companies by ensuring the storage of their products in other sites, because there is no industry without logistics and vice versa. We are working on it with Kpmg and the governor of Campania, De Luca, has already said he is interested in supporting the project. Not just him, however: even the president of Lombardy, Fontana, asked to know more. The Industrial Union is at our side and this is also a signal: thanks to president Jannotti Pecci, the city’s entrepreneurial forces have been re-aggregated after a difficult period. Now we’re a team, and it’s nice.”
