An inventor and a manager, an (almost) foregone success story

From go-karts, to nanoparticles, and finally into the Forbes limelight – it’s no short step. To set forth, 26-year-old MIHMEP - Master of International Healthcare Management, Economics and Policy Alumnus Francesco Bracotti leveraged his passion, determination and, not least of all, a full set of newly-acquired skills. This winning mix allowed him to be counted among the 100 most influential under-30s in Italy, according to Forbes Italia magazine, as well as among the under-26 “Future Makers” who are going to push the country ahead, according to Boston Consulting Group.

A professional racing driver while still underage, Francesco decided to interrupt a very promising international career in the world of motors after a major family bereavement and devote himself to healthcare by graduating in pharmacy. But he was obviously not giving up his challenge-yourself attitude, for shortly after graduation, his technical skills and hard work led him to invent NanoMuGs, a groundbreaking system that enables drugs to be delivered to the human body through nanoparticles.

“This is probably the result of a mixture of personal research, team work, passion and luck,” says Bracotti, modestly. Discovered before the onset of Covid-19 – in another age, so to speak - the pandemic has caused interest in this technology and its creator to skyrocket. “Three Universities have partnered to file for international patent registration. This nanoparticle system could be used to fight all coronaviruses. Sad to say, it took a pandemic to accelerate the research. Now NanoMuG aims at becoming a multifunctional platform in case of future outbreaks.”

But Bracotti’s way was not by research alone. At present he is a member of the GlaxoSmithKline Italia team that is launching anti-Covid monoclonal antibodies in Italy, being the British pharma giant’s Covid Assets & Specialty Care Pipeline Country Commercial Manager. “I have increasingly inclined towards commercial roles in pharma,” Bracotti notes, “and MIHMEP has certainly played a key part in that. I had always been interested in pharma-economics and marketing aspects to integrate my technical background, but they were still a tabula rasa to me. It is as though MIHMEP helped me write the book: The dream of my life. Honestly, I could never be doing what I am doing now had it not been for this learning experience. It has been an enormous boost to my career.”

Despite an impressive list of individual awards which is anything but common at his age, Francesco Bracotti does not see himself as a one-man band. “One of the main lessons from SDA Bocconi Master’s is about the importance of team work, of integrating different skills to achieve a result. Handing out tasks to bring in success.” Bracotti continues: “Meeting people from various places, backgrounds and with different visions was a really useful experience: not only learning by doing, also learning through others.”

This sharing experience did not stop when the Master’s was over. As an Alumnus confirms: “One major asset of Bocconi is their huge network. A sentence that I like a lot perfectly accounts for that: ‘network is your net growth’. And that’s exactly it: MIHMEP allowed me to join a worldwide network of professionals; it’s one big family where you all participate in a continuous process of personal and professional development.”

The idea of value and common good is obviously good ground for a conversation about healthcare and the pharma industry. At the end of it Bracotti adds: “Social impact is an ubiquitous expression, today, somewhat vague at times, I should say. In my field, we measure social impact every day: it is the people who can be treated and the savings for the healthcare system in terms of direct and indirect costs. We bring in real benefits in everybody’s life. And this is also a lesson from my MIHMEP.” And, for those who have decided to commit themselves to everyone’s health, it’s a lesson that makes all the difference.





SDA Bocconi School of Management.