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The health sector in Eastern France

As the historical cradle of the pharmaceutical industry and ideally located to reach the main European markets, Eastern France is today a leading player in the field of health.  

Key figures 

  • 400 companies
  • 5 Nobel Prizes in Medicine and Chemistry in operation
  • More than 200 health facilities
  • 4 renowned university hospitals
  • No. 1 in France for incubation of start-ups in the field of health
  • 40% of the world’s pharmaceutical companies are located in the Upper Rhine Valley.

Eastern France, a leading attractiveness for healthcare players  

More than 40% of the world’s pharmaceutical companies are located in the Upper Rhine Valley, making it a natural magnet for key international biotech players, CROs, CDMOs and start-ups.   

In addition, the Region has exceptional infrastructure: numerous high-tech platforms, several of the most modern hospitals in France, and a dozen university hospitals suitable for conducting clinical trials ready to welcome partners.   

Clusters, research: a Region focused on innovation   

Biovalley France, which has 350 members, aims to federate, develop and promote the players in the health sector in Eastern France through Innovation. This European centre of excellence is part of a virtuous ecosystem with Materalia, Prothesis Valley and NextMed, as well as the SEMIA incubator.  

Innovation is also experienced on a daily basis at the MedTech campus: a unique environment where healthcare, research, technology, education, leading MedTech companies and entrepreneurship connect and strive for excellence. Topics of expertise include: image-guided micro-invasive surgery, robotics, AI, medical imaging.   

Finally, many public experiments are leading to the emergence of a digital health and e-health sector: digital health solutions for the daily life of patients (e-meuse), data infrastructure and acceleration of digital health projects (INESIA), acceleration of the digital shift of software publishers (Pulsy), development of new uses and practices such as the “Health Territory of Tomorrow” in Strasbourg.   

Large companies in the medical field have chosen Eastern France   

Many companies have set up their production or R&D activities in our Region:   

Alcom Technologies, Eli Lilly, TokTokDoc, Novartis, Merck, RDS, Transgène, Orthogrid, Bioserenity, SANOFI, …