The IBSA Group Relies on Sailing: The New Three-year Project, Halfway Between Sports Challenge and Social Sustainability, About to Be Launched

Challenge, resilience, courage, nature, innovation. These are the keywords that characterise Sailing into the Future. Together , the new international project that sees IBSA (Institut Biochimique SA) the protagonist of a new three-year enterprise, which starts in 2022, albeit with a long-term vision.

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“The project we are launching today is a real sporting endeavour, which sees us compete in some of the world’s most prestigious and challenging regattas”, stated Arturo Licenziati, President, CEO and Founder of IBSA. “This new project, however, is not only an ocean crossing, but also an opportunity to tell the values ​​of IBSA, increasing its visibility around the world. In fact, IBSA is today an international company that maintains a vision that is always aimed at the future and ready to face challenges that go well beyond the therapeutic and personal care areas”.

Founded in 1945 and headquartered in Lugano (Switzerland), IBSA is a leading scientific, economic and industrial reality in the pharmaceutical sector, thanks to the design outlined by Arturo Licenziati. A multinational company employing 2,000 people – including headquarters, subsidiaries and production sites – IBSA is present with its products in over 90 countries on 5 continents, with 16 subsidiaries located in Europe, China and the United States and with a turnover of over CHF 700 million.

“Innovating by keeping people at the core of our ecosystem, without ever setting limits: those are the horizons of the IBSA Group, which has always been inspired by the desire to go further”, explained Licenziati. “Sailing into the future. Together is a metaphor for our corporate history, but also a wish to grow and change, to find new means to offer health, well-being and new perspectives for the communities within which we operate, through social and environmental sustainability”.

The project Sailing into the Future. Together engaged a team of great experience and sporting talent, involved right from the design and building phase of an innovative Class40 boat that will be led by Alberto Bona, the skipper who has been entrusted with the task of transforming this undertaking into a success.

“The Route du Rhum is the first stage of a three-year project: it’s one of the most challenging solo regattas in the world, as well as one of the most popular events in international ocean sailing. The project relies on a competent and greatly experienced team, while the conceptual design of the boat and its construction are entrusted to a successful duo: thus, we have all the credentials to put a winning boat in the water. The further challenge will be to make the most of the time available after the July launch, and carry out the in-water test part to make it reliable and performing”, commented Alberto Bona. “Naturally, I thank our sponsor IBSA, with which I share the taste for the challenge, for continuous improvement, and the desire to break through new horizons. IBSA has chosen sailing to represent strength, determination, innovation, but also to raise awareness about a greater respect for nature, with a view to sustainability”.

Beyond sport, and in a broader perspective, sailing is part of a path that brings the Company ever closer to the topic of sustainability, promoting respect for nature and the environment, but also to a new sensitivity and awareness about issues of collective responsibility, with activities in favour of people in difficulty or with disabilities.

“As part of this project, we decided to be a partner of some nautical clubs, in order to support inclusive sailing initiatives. We started a collaboration with the Yacht Club of Punta Ala (GR), to which we donated two boats for disabled children, to involve them in experiences in close contact with the sea, enabling them to navigate with accessible boats and compete in integrated races”, explained Giorgio Pisani, Vice President Southern Europe and Project Leader. “The goal is to create an actual inclusion of the disabled on the competition field, promoting social integration as well as opportunities for dialogue, interaction and mutual understanding, thus helping break down barriers and differences”.

The Company will also receive a prize during the award ceremony of the first edition (2022) of the Sport for Nature Awards – to be held today, March 17, 2022 – an event that aims to celebrate the “sport with a green soul”.

The award Azienda per il sociale: IBSA per la vela inclusiva (“Company for social initiatives: IBSA for inclusive sailing”) will be assigned precisely for raising awareness in favour of social and environmental sustainability through the values ​​of sport, and in particular of sailing, as a means for social inclusion.

To narrate all the phases of the project Sailing into the Future. Together and accompany its development, the new website www.ibsasailing.com was created, also available in Italian and French. From here, it will be possible to follow the journey of skipper Alberto Bona, find out more about the Route du Rhum, the team and the new Class40 boat, that will set sail on November 6 from Saint-Malo, headed towards the island of Guadeloupe. In addition, the site will host photo and video content and news relating to IBSA’s social responsibility initiatives.

IBSA

IBSA (Institut Biochimique SA) is a multinational pharmaceutical Swiss Company, founded in 1945 in Lugano. Today, its products are present in over 90 Countries on 5 continents, through the Company’s 16 subsidiaries located in Europe, China and the United States. The company has a consolidated turnover of over 700 million Swiss francs, and employs 2,000 people between headquarters, subsidiaries and production sites. IBSA holds 90 families of approved patents and others in development, as well as a vast portfolio of products, covering 10 therapeutic areas: reproductive medicine, endocrinology, pain and inflammation, osteoarticular, aesthetic medicine, dermatology, uro-gynaecology, cardio-metabolic, respiratory, consumer health. It is also one of the four largest operators worldwide in the area of Reproductive Medicine, and one of the world’s leaders in hyaluronic acid-based products. IBSA has based its philosophy on 4 pillars: Person, Innovation, Quality and Responsibility.

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Contact information

FOR INFORMATION TO THE PRESS
IBSA Press Office
Valeria Riccobono – valeria.riccobono@noesis.net
Ornella Reccia – ornella.reccia@noesis.net