Spotlight on Milan

With a population of 3 million and with 8 international universities in its metro area, Milan lies at the center of the trade and transportation networks connecting Northern and Mediterranean Europe. Storied and cultured (Leonardo da Vinci lived there for 18 years), Milan can be easily reached by plane and train, and quickly traversed by subway, bicycle, tram or electric bus.

The city is a leading player in the European events and conventions marketplace, hosting major fairs, scientific congresses, and international sports events, like the upcoming Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

Milan is attracting venture capital and private equity, particularly in genomics and digital health, and working to become a transnational prime mover in Life Sciences.

This is enabled by internationally ranked universities (Statale, Politecnico, Bocconi, Cattolica, Bicocca, IULM, San Raffaele, Humanitas) supplying STEM graduates to a buzzing R&D ecosystem which is animated by startups, incubators, accelerators including Berkeley Skydeck, and new tech zones, such as MIND, the Milano Innovation District, where more than 1,000 international researchers are already at work in the Human Technopole.

Milan leads a strong national industry worth >€252 billion, accounting for 28% of Italy’s total R&D investment in pharma and the life sciences. The Milan Metro Area is home to over 270 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including some of the world’s largest life sciences companies, with 77 companies having >€100 million revenues. 66% have their production sites in the Milan area, and more than 52% carry out their clinical trials here, with 30 Life Science companies having established their own research centers in the city and its surrounding area.

A large number of companies in Milan specialize in producing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), automated manufacturing plants, primary and secondary packaging, and providing regulatory services. Its internationally-renowned centers of excellence conduct critical research in biomedicine and healthcare delivery, while its public hospitals and private clinics provide world-class health care.

Together with Paris and Munich, Milan was selected to host the European Unified Patent Court starting from 2024.