The contract notice for the awarding of the construction works for Ri.MED Foundation’s Biomedical Research and Biotechnology Center (BRBC) located in Carini (Palermo, Italy), was published today on the Official Journal of the European Union. The full text of the notice is available at www.fondazionerimed.com
The total amount of the contract for the construction of the 25,000 square-meter-facility that will host up to 600 employees is €113,857,714.73, and includes laboratories, administrative offices, lecture hall, outpatient clinics, parking lot, and guest rooms. The interested operators have a deadline of two months to submit tenders (March 31, 2017).
Within a context characterized by the importance of biomedical sciences as a driving force for innovation, the BRBC has an evident strategic role, both from an economical and public health standpoint, and represents a key element that will allow Sicily to become a translational “hub” for life sciences. Ri.MED Foundation was established by a decree of the Italian government, replicating the ISMETT-IRCCS public-private management model, and can rely on founding partners such as the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers, UPMC, the University of Pittsburgh, the Italian National Research Center (CNR), and the Region of Sicily. For its strategic importance and for the allocated funds, the construction of the BRBC is a key infrastructure in the history of Sicily and of the entire Mediterranean basin.
Given the willingness of the institutions and Ri.MED to ensure full compliance with the rules, in view of the publication of the contract notice for the construction of the BRBC, the Foundation has signed a protocol of legality with the Prefecture of Palermo to ensure total transparency and oppose any infiltration by organized crime. Similarly, the Collaborative Surveillance Program with the Italian National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC) aims to ensure correctness and transparency of the work awarding-procedures for the BRBC construction.
“The publication of the contract notice for the construction of Ri.MED Foundation’s BRBC is a fundamental step in the work carried out by UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh in the last ten years with the Italian and Sicilian governments and with the CNR”, said Bruno Gridelli, executive vice-president of UMPC International and vice-president of Ri.MED. “The Ri.MED Foundation was established following the long and fruitful collaboration between the Region of Sicily and UPMC which, through ISMETT-IRCCS, provided high-specialty care to Sicilian patients and created hundreds of jobs for young medical professionals. Since the establishment of Ri.MED, dozens of young Italian researchers have been trained in Pittsburgh and in other top national and international research centers to become the leaders of the Foundation’s research programs. Today, with the BRBC and with its advanced research programs we intend to generate new treatment protocols with a clinical and commercial value. This will create new biotechnological businesses that will have a positive impact on the economy and social development of Sicily and Italy.”
“The opening of the BRBC is a unique opportunity for Sicily and Italy. We look forward with great pride to the challenge of leading the Ri.MED Foundation toward this goal. This is an innovative Center focused on understanding the mechanisms of diseases that today still have no cure, and developing new diagnostic methods, medical devices, and personalized treatments to improve the patients’ quality of life integrating research and drug development, regenerative medicine and bioengineering. Today, becoming a key player in the development of biomedical clusters in the Mediterranean area has become a feasible goal for Sicily”, commented Alessandro Padova, director general of the Ri.MED Foundation.
The BRBC final project was designed by an association of enterprises led by Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum Inc., and approved by the Regional Commission for Public Works on October 12, 2016.
A dedicated Information Day will take place on February 28 at the “Sala Polifunzionale” of the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers in Largo Chigi 19, Rome. The event will focus on the current activities of Ri.MED and on its future projects with the BRBC within the Sicilian, Italian, and international context. The event is addressed to all interested economic operators, potential participants to the procurement process for the awarding of the construction works, and to all those wishing to learn more about Ri.MED. An information video made by Ri.MED on the scientific relevance of the BRBC will be shown. In order to guarantee the parity of all tenderers during the Information Day, the video will provide no specific information on the awarding procedure. For the same reason, no questions will be taken on the project’s characteristics nor on other elements concerning the contract. The video will not be considered part of the procurement documents. After the event, the video shown at the Information Day will be made available for download from the Foundation’s official website.
To register for the event please fill out the form available in the “Communication – Events” section of the Ri.MED Foundation website. Entrance is free until full capacity is reached.
Contacts:
Donata Sandri
+39 329 7254611
+ 39 091 6041112
dsandri@fondazionerimed.com