A key aspect in the field of Biotech/Life Sciences, for young and dynamic Italian companies, is the access to incubator structures that can provide a range of services and skills likely to help these "rising stars" to best develop and enhance their portfolio of projects and innovative ideas. The services and expertise provided by these incubators may range from logistics (i.e., adequate lab space for biological, chemical and pharmacological research), administrative / commercial (i.e., business development services, advisory patent information and management/financial administration) and scientific-project assistance (i.e., access to project management skills and scientific expertise in key disciplines for the discovery and development of innovative products or applications).

Prior to 2008, the UniMi CISI Center of Excellence was already working at POLO under a prototype intervention system in which, among other activities, companies dedicated to developing technologies and products in Life Sciences were incubated. This function has now been completely taken over by CISI Scrl, which has established and implemented procedures and methods for scouting (including a selection of national and international events in which scouting is advertised), assessment and finalization of entrepreneurial ideas aiming to the creation of start-up companies.

In addition to serving as an incubator for new start-up companies, CISI Scrl continues to provide incubation support to companies located at POLO and assisted by CISI since before the birth of CISI scrl; due to the long timescales in Life Sciences for young companies to become profitable, the incubation support for start-ups typically requires at least 24 months, and often around 3-5 years.