France: the Land of Healthcare Innovation? 

Finally, the recruitment landscape has transformed as well-the life sciences industry now needs highly multidisciplinary candidates trained in biotechnologies, digital technologies, data analysis and AI, and medical devices. Higher education institutions must adapt their offering to meet these new challenges. 

The challenge of financing and scaling up 

Although France has created many startups (in 2017, 18 BioTech or MedTech companies per million inhabitants, compared to 10 per million in the United States), many of them are faced with the difficulties of raising funds and the complex French regulatory environment, and have thus chosen to further their development abroad. 

On the one hand, France offers many seed capital subsidies for young entrepreneurs launching a business. On the other hand, private and public funders have little incentive to invest in scaling up (venture capital or growth capital), which helps startups establish themselves as small and mid-sized companies. Even if ROI is often high in the healthcare, it also requires a long-term vision and in-depth knowledge of the sector, the risk and complexity of which can put off investors. 

In early 2020, the "French Tech 120" program was launched, demonstrating the government’s desire to boost support for healthcare startups in areas such as biotechnology, therapeutic solutions, medical devices and e-health. And while companies in the program receive support for international development, financing, market access and recruitment, there is still insufficient assistance when it comes to scaling up and improving global visibility.

French health regulations remain unstable and complicated 

The instability and sluggishness of the regulatory system often discourage innovative companies from developing their activity in France, and deprive French patients of discoveries sometimes made in their own country. Although the country’s normative environment was designed to guarantee patients maximum safety, the latest health crises have only heightened the debate surrounding conflicts of interest and regulation and complicated procedures. And while countries everywhere are facing the same challenges, it is worth noting that some of France’s neighbors-the UK and Germany, for example- have been able to offer fast and transparent channels and more appropriate assessments.

The country is also struggling to renew the governance and skills of major agencies such as the French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) and the French National Authority for Health (HAS), which do not have the appropriate means to evaluate new devices and integrate the new challenges of NICTs and digital technology. 

Boosting strategies

A 2017 study revealed the strategies implemented by various countries to boost the appeal of their R&D and manufacturing. These strategies fall into six categories: setting up corporate taxation measures, for example, to reduce the corporate tax rate (the UK and France); improving market access through fast-track procedures (the UK and the US); reducing regulation and bureaucracy (employment legislation in Italy); developing a healthcare sector with genuine synergies across various public and private innovation players (Switzerland’s Innovation Park); strengthening relations between the public and private sectors; and boosting supply by promoting investment and providing export subsidies and support for industry.

There are multiple pathways to encouraging innovation and research. France needs to build its own momentum.

Copyright: DENIS CHARLET / AFP