Marco Cappelletti

I am the Commercial Director for Illumina in Italy, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. I manage the company’s business for each of these countries and the local teams in planning, budgeting and forecasting. Basically, I’m the one who handles the “numbers”.

Our task is to introduce and disseminate the techniques we develop on genome (human and non-human) sequencing into new markets – both geographically and in terms of market segments.

Illumina is the most innovative company in the Life Sciences. For several years, Illumina has been developing the most advanced technologies in genomic sequencing that also apply to the environmental, food and microbiology sectors. These innovations have contributed to a dramatic reduction in the cost of genomic analysis and an increase in quality, facilitating large-scale implementation. In terms of innovation to the business approach, we position ourselves not only as a supplier of sequencing technologies but as a developer of partnerships. As for MIND, we bring an office with a solution centre to provide training but also help the genomic analysis ecosystem grow more than it normally would. The genetics lab we are building will be a booster for small-to-medium enterprises, universities and their spin-offs – and will create a unique ecosystem of technology development and innovation.

Italy is a fast-growing country in genetic analysis. And we wanted to be part of this very fast development

MIND and Illumina share the same vision toward eco-sustainability, technological development and the determination to introduce diagnostic systems that will revolutionise the concept of healthcare. In addition, MIND works very well logistically. Italy is a fast-growing country in genetic analysis, where great minds and investments contribute to high-level science. And we wanted to be an integral part of this very fast development. Establishing our Italian headquarters and research laboratory in MIND was a natural choice, based on a shared culture of innovation that has always been Illumina’s hallmark. The presence of Human Technopole also played a key role, as it is a potential partner for developing new diagnostic systems and large-scale genomics projects.

Considering that we are in a niche sector, very different from other larger ones such as telecommunications or automotive, Illumina’s investment in MIND was particularly significant. A bet on its present, but also its future. We want MIND to become a model technological platform to replicate and export to other areas, both in Italy and abroad.