Lazio Innova is the cornerstone investor in Primo Capital's new fund toinvest in the Lazio region's biotech potential and support the growth of new companies capable of competing nationally and internationally. Fondazione ENPAM supports the fund as a Limited Partner.
Rome, 16 September 2026 – Primo Capital announces the launchof Primo Biotech Lazio, a new venture capital fund dedicated to biotechnologies.
Established with the support of Lazio Innova, under the LAZIO Venture 2 programme - the Lazio Region fund of funds co-financed by the 2021-2027 ERDF Regional Programme - and with the contribution of Fondazione ENPAM, the fund aims to turn one of Italy's densest ecosystems of research, clinical expertise and pharmaceutical industry into new, scalable biotech companies.
The fund is led by Letizia Goretti and Michele Cerqua as General Partners, supported by Professor Sergio Abrignani as ScientificAdvisor. The team brings together leading experience spanning finance, the pharmaceutical industry, scientific research and biotech entrepreneurship, with expertise covering the entire development cycle of a life sciences company: from scientific validation to clinical and regulatory strategy, from financial structuring to business development, through to licensing, M&A and exit transactions.
The Lazio region has a particularly strong combination of universities, IRCCS research hospitals, clinical infrastructure, pharmaceutical companies and manufacturing hubs. Yet this scientific and industrial base is not currently matched by a proportionate level of biotech company creation and financing.
Primo Biotech Lazio was establishedto help close this gap and foster the development ofItaly's real economy.
To be closer to the region's scientific, entrepreneurial and institutional ecosystem, and to expand its local scouting and support capabilities, Primo Capital will strengthen its direct presence in Rome with a permanent base. This decision forms part of a broader strategy: to continue investing in talent wherever it is found in Italy.
The fund aims to build a concentrated portfolio of investments, operating primarilyas lead investor. Its strategy will focus onbiotechnology and innovative technologies applied to the life sciences, takinga broad yet selective approach across the sector's principal areas of innovation.
The launch of Primo Biotech Lazio further strengthens Primo Capital's platform and marks another step in the firm's growth and evolution towards becoming a leading player in Italy's high-tech investment landscape. Through specialised capital and sector-specific expertise, the objective is to support the growth of technology-intensive companies capable of generating competitiveness, economic development and social progress for the country.
Letizia Goretti and Michele Cerqua share their vision: "In biotech, scientific rigour, clinical need and the ability to execute must advance together. The Lazio region has outstanding expertise and infrastructure: the challenge is to turn them into companies capable of attracting capital, competing internationally and delivering tangible impact for patients."
"Lazio is Italy's leading life sciences hub, thanks to a unique ecosystem that brings together pharmaceutical and biotech companies, universities, research centres,IRCCS research hospitals and outstanding scientific expertise," said Roberta Angelilli, Vice President of the Lazio Region and Councillor for Economic Development, Commerce,Crafts, Industry and Internationalisation. "WithPrimo Biotech Lazio, we are further strengthening this specialisation by promoting the commercialisation of research and attracting investment."
"In recent months, Lazio Innova has completed a diversified portfolio of six investment funds focused on deep tech and technology transfer, supporting for the first time the creation of funds dedicated exclusively to a single region," said Andrea Ciampalini, General Manager of Lazio Innova S.p.A. "Within this framework, Primo Biotech Lazio aims to turn Lazio's exceptional scientific potential in the life sciences into new, high-value-added businesses."
"With Primo Biotech Lazio, we are supporting a strategic sector such as the life sciences by investing pension assets in initiatives capable of creating value and contributing to the growth of Italy's real economy. Lazio has outstandingscientific, clinical and industrial expertise: the objective is to turn this wealth of knowledge into innovative companies capable of growing and competing in international markets. For ENPAM, this means combining returns, careful riskmanagement and support for healthcare innovation, with an eye to the future of medicine and the country," said Alberto Oliveti, President of Fondazione ENPAM.
"With Primo Biotech Lazio, we want to translate the quality of Italian research at the local level into technology companies capable of competing globally," said Antonio Concolino, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Primo Capital. "LazioInnova and Fondazione ENPAM strengthen a project that represents a strategic step for Primo Capital in the evolution of its platform and its focus on high-potential technologies. A permanent presence in Rome will also expand our ability to cover the Italian market and identify expertise, research and new entrepreneurial opportunities on a more continuous basis."
Primo Biotech Lazio is classified as an Article 8 fund under the SFDR and integrates ESG criteriathroughout its investment and value-creation process.
