FIGAROVOX/TRIBUNE – As France prepares to host the One Health Summit in Lyon from April 5 to 7, several leaders from institutes, universities, and innovation hubs are calling for medical research to become a central pillar of French health sovereignty.
France is gearing up to host the One Health Summit. A strong symbol. But can we talk about health sovereignty without strong medical research? The question must be asked directly. France is a country of scientific excellence, but our health sovereignty remains fragile. Every day, therapeutic innovations are born elsewhere that could be discovered here. Medical research, essential for innovation and treatment, still often faces regulatory delays and the complexity of care pathways. Health sovereignty is too often reduced to a question of production: masks, active ingredients, supply chains. However, while this is a necessary condition, it is far from sufficient. Before the factory, there is the laboratory; before the drug, the molecule; before the molecule, fundamental, clinical, university, hospital-university, translational research. It is this that determines whether the therapies of tomorrow will be discovered in Paris, Boston, or Beijing.
France has a strong ecosystem for clinical trials: dynamic bioclusters, IHUs, high-level academic hospital-university research, innovative startups, and remarkable talents. But this momentum faces regulatory complexity that slows down research and delays patient access to innovation. It is urgent to simplify and accelerate procedures: Fast Track processes, one-stop shops, support for early phases. Speed, safety, and efficiency are essential to transform our discoveries into treatments. What is missing is direction. The question is not only financial. It is a question of governance, competence, and attractiveness. Researchers, clinicians, R&D teams settle where the conditions are favorable. Moreover, the French government has understood this well by calling on American researchers to come and settle in France.
An immunotherapy could be discovered in a French laboratory, tested in a French university hospital, produced in a factory in France, and ultimately never be available to French patients.
This geopolitical reality has been well understood by others. The United States and China are turning innovation into a tool of power, just like rare metals or energy. China now ranks as the world’s second largest developer of drugs, with more than 30% of the global innovation reservoir. Financing research today means having a health power balance for tomorrow. Let’s not forget the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Signatories:
Pr Alain Puisieux, President of the Curie Institute
Laurent Lafferrere, CEO of France BioLead
Christophe Jacquinet, CEO of Infectious Diseases Cluster (Biocluster France2030)
Christian Deleuze, President of Medicen
Marta Nunes, Director of the Center of Excellence in Respiratory Pathogens
Eric Vacaresse, President of Eurobiomed
Pr Christian Jorgensen, Director of IHU Immun4Cure Montpellier
Pr Eric Vivier, President of the Paris Saclay Cancer Cluster
Pr Eric Berton, President of Aix-Marseille University, Coordinator of Marseille Immunology Biocluster
Pr Bruno Lina, President of Lyon 1 University and President of Infectious Diseases Cluster (Biocluster France2030)
Quentin Poitou, Director of the FHF Fund (Hospital Foundation of France)
Stephanie Kervestin, General Delegate of the Ariis (Alliance for Research and Innovation of Industries in Health)
