France already has many strengths, as demonstrated by the rise in power of French biotechs and more generally of HealthTechs, or even the ambitions of the “Santé Innovation 2030” plan, which includes key measures to promote the attractiveness of the sector and investments. It is this shared ambition that leads Pfizer to choose France as a strategic pillar for the development of its clinical trials and research in Europe.
France, leader in European healthcare, has never been so attractive
The dynamism of French clinical research was fully illustrated from the first hours of the Covid19 pandemic. With nearly 2,500 clinical trials launched across the world in the space of a few months, France found itself in 2e position, behind the United States, to initiate these trials. In this global race, France has fully taken its place and has been able to propose unprecedented collaborations between private and public players or between large health companies operating in a highly competitive environment.
Encourage innovation and R&D, aaccelerate access to the market for breakthrough innovations, stimulate production in the territory and digital investments… The French ecosystem is starting from this health crisis with a strong ambition, a 7 billion euro plan for health, innovation and biotechnology. But to keep this position, it will be necessary seize innovative opportunities that have proven their worth, such as the digitization of clinical trials or better take into account the contribution of HealthTechs in therapeutic progress.
Clinical trials: betting on digital biomarkers
Clinical trials are the first access to treatment for a patient with a therapeutic impasse in great pain or whose life prognosis is at stake. They maintain the pharmaceutical R&D chain of expertise in the territories and the excellence of the hospitals in their capacity for innovation. France is today the 3e European country in the conduct of clinical trials. To become THE leading country in the European Union, France must imperatively facilitate and accelerate the implementation of clinical trials, enable their remote organization through the use of digital technology such as digital biomarkers, and integrate new methodologies for evaluating innovative therapies.
Clinical research evolves in a highly competitive international context; the USA currently carries out the majority of clinical trials, and the rise of Asia remains a very significant challenge. To contribute and support this ambition of the French Government, Pfizer announced its intention, last January within the framework of “Choose France”to significantly increase the number of patients enrolled in its clinical trials over the next 5 years.
Investments, reforms and collaborations, the keystone of tomorrow’s health innovations
In the triptych of academic research, clinical and industrial development, the integration of HealthTechs and biotechs is the keystone for transforming science into innovations and therapeutic progress. In France, there are many players at the forefront of technology, with internationally recognized scientific expertise. Pfizer devotes part of its investments to the research and development of cutting-edge technologies, such as gene therapies for rare diseases. This dynamic, initiated several years ago around projects made in Franceis also done through preclinical research collaborations and venture capital funding in biotechnology companies, or through the support and assistance of startups in digital innovation.
It is now essential to work on the complementarity of these actors for a France at the forefront of medical progress. But all these efforts only make sense if patients have access to the new treatments available as quickly as possible. We must continue to reduce access times, simplify regulations, ensure consistency between political will and its implementation. It is up to everyone, private and public players, supported by the current government and the next, to combine know-how to strengthen the development and accessibility of innovations and new technologies in health. It is only on this condition that France will be able to maintain and strengthen its position as leader in European healthcare.
