Montana just signed a "right to try" law that opens the door to experimental gene therapies for patients with rare diseases. Behind the legal language is a desperate father: Kris DeVault, whose son Brody, born in 2023, shows severe developmental delays and has already missed key milestones in speech and coordination. Genetic testing left no hope. The law exists to give him and hundreds of families access to treatments the FDA hasn't approved yet.
Why it matters? Because while the United States speeds up with deregulated tools to access gene therapies, Europe and Italy remain stuck in a system of endless trials, ethics committees, and healthcare bureaucracy. The concrete result: wealthy and informed Italian patients will go abroad for treatment, while Italian biotech SMEs will see their patents bought by American funds. This is not abstract geopolitics: it's the future of our healthcare system and an entire industrial sector.
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The data shows that 70% of advanced gene therapies in late-stage development originate in the United States. Europe contributes a fraction, Italy next to nothing at an industrial level. Not because we lack researchers: we lack an ecosystem that turns research into a product. The American "right to try" is not the solution for Europe, but it's the wake-up call we can't ignore anymore. If we don't build a European alternative, the gap will widen forever.
Our position is clear: hope is not an industrial strategy
We at Meteora Web always look at technology through the lens of numbers. And the numbers here are ruthless. A law like Montana's doesn't create innovation: it creates an exception. It moves the problem from the system to the individual. It sounds great in a press release, but it doesn't build research infrastructure, train researchers, or create jobs. Europe doesn't need to copy "right to try": it needs a real single market for advanced therapies, with faster approvals and an industry that can afford to make mistakes and try again. Whoever invests in biotech in Italy today knows the path to the patient is a maze. A maze is not fixed with emergency laws: it's demolished with a strategy.
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For Italian SMEs working in digital, the lesson is direct. When a system is slow and fragmented, those who have the tools to bypass it win. Companies investing in clinical data, telemedicine platforms, and remote monitoring systems will lead the next wave. Bureaucracy is not beaten by waiting: it's beaten by building tools that make it irrelevant.
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What to do? If you're an entrepreneur or a developer, start treating health-tech as your next market. Study European regulations, look at health innovation grants, design solutions that help companies collect and interpret data. Montana isn't that far away: it's the sign that the world is moving fast, and those who aren't ready will be spectators. We at Meteora Web are ready to bet on it. Are you?
