L’Aquila, the medieval castle, photograph from Bellezza d’Italia, Christmas special, 1949, p. 12
In 1949, Bellezza d’Italia — the historic magazine for physicians published by Dompé Farmaceutici — commissioned a lengthy feature on L’Aquila and its region from an Abruzzo-born writer. The author was Giovanni Titta Rosa, one of the best-known figures in the Italian literary scene of the time, born just a few kilometers from the city that would soon embark on a long season of industrial development. Dompé helped shape this story by choosing L’Aquila as the location for its new production hub.
Opening of the Dompé farmaceutici production facility, L’Aquila (June 21, 1993)
In 1993, almost 50 years after that article was published, the city became the heart of Dompé’s research and manufacturing activities. In the presence of President of the Italian Republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Nobel Laureate Rita Levi-Montalcini, and Minister of Health Mariapia Garavaglia, the company inaugurated its new production facility, marking a pivotal milestone both in Dompé’s history and in the development of the Italian biopharmaceutical industry.
Construction site of the Dompé Farmaceutici manufacturing hub, L’Aquila (early 1990s)
Technologically advanced and open to global research, the new plant originally focused on Primary Care. In 1998, it was expanded with the addition of its first biotech pilot plant, marking the beginning of a process that would progressively expand its spaces, technologies and expertise, eventually turning it into a European center of reference for the development of essential drugs as well as active ingredients for the treatment of rare diseases.
Dompé farmaceutici Plant, L’Aquila (1993)
This was followed by the creation of a new pharmaceutical unit for the production of biotechnological active ingredients using fermentation processes featuring recombinant microorganisms (2013) and the introduction of a production line for cenegermin (2016), a recombinant form of human nerve growth factor (rhNGF). This made L’Aquila the first hub in the world to produce a biotechnological drug based on the discovery that earned Rita Levi-Montalcini and Stanley Cohen the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1986.
The 2009 earthquake strengthened the link between Dompé and the city of L’Aquila: the plant withstood the earthquake and contributed to the area’s recovery, confirming a business vision capable of combining development, innovation and social responsibility.
This commitment was accompanied by growing attention to environmental sustainability, with the adoption, in 2019, of a biological wastewater treatment plant and, in 2024, a state-of-the-art trigeneration system capable of covering 70% of the site’s energy requirements and reducing its CO2 emissions.
Dompé farmaceutici Plant, L’Aquila (1993)
Upstream industrial biotechnology facility, detail. Dompé farmaceutici production complex, L’Aquila (2025)
The hub took a further step forward in 2025, with the launch of a new production line dedicated to syrups and mouthwashes. Equipped with advanced technologies to increase efficiency, automation and quality control, this new installation brought the plant’s production lines to a total of nine.
Today, with two production areas – pharmaceuticals and biotechnology – and a total area of over 170,000 square metres, the L’Aquila plant remains at the forefront of innovation at Dompé: a place where research, technology and talent come together to transform science into answers to unmet therapeutic needs.
