France wants to become the leader in health innovation in Europe by 2030 and will invest the necessary means to achieve this goal. Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the French Minister Delegate for Industry, chose one of the flagships of the medical device industry to unveil the section dedicated to the sector. She was visiting Balt, near Paris, on February 21, 2022.
A family-owned business founded in 1977, it specializes in high-precision medical equipment (micro-catheters, stents, etc.) to treat strokes. It is the world leader in its sector and has acquired a plant in California.
The Minister Delegate announced €400 million in investments for medical device firms, out of the €7.5 billion in investments dedicated to healthcare under the France 2030 and Innovation Santé 2030 plans. These measures are also being driven by Olivier Véran, Minister for Solidarity and Health, and Frédérique Vidal, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, in conjunction with Bruno Bonnell, Secretary General for Investment.
“We have businesses that need to be supported. Health is a good investment. We want to restore France to its position as the leading European nation for health innovation,” Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister Delegate for Industry.
The objective is to reindustrialize France in the health sector in general, by fostering the emergence of leaders at the European and global levels. This €400 million package for medical device firms is aimed in particular at developing strategic device technologies (surgical robots, implants and prostheses, digital solutions for mental health, etc.), facilitating access to innovative medical devices for healthcare institutions, supporting industrialization projects and reducing time to market.
In parallel, the ministers announced the opening, since the end of February 2022, of the “Health 2030 Capacity” one-stop shop. This call for projects aims to support industrialization projects in the fields of biotherapy and bioproduction of innovative therapies, the fight against emerging infectious diseases and CBRN threats (MIE-MN), and medical devices. It will be endowed with a budget of more than €800 million and will run until December 29, 2023.
The French medical device and in vitro diagnostic medical device industry includes 1,500 firms (French and foreign), 93% of which are startups and SMEs. They employ nearly 85,000 people in France and generate €31 billion in revenues.
Balt took advantage of the minister’s visit to announce its plans for a global innovation center in neuroscience. While the details and timetable have not yet been revealed, the ambition has been stated: to conduct research on brain pathologies of all kinds, as well as on connectivity.