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Biotechnology to France

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(Last updated: 11 Jan 2008)

Trends and opportunities

The market

The biotechnology in France exploded onto the international scene in the 1990s and is continuing to develop and expand at a rapid rate. 2007 and 2006 were thus record years for the industry in terms of finance and funding. The French biotechnology industry is the third largest in Europe, behind the UK and Germany in terms of the number of listed companies, but further reforms could boost France to become a key driver in Europe and in the world. 

There are more than 400 biotechnology companies in France. Many other companies are indirectly involved in the industry in fields such as laboratory supplies, intellectual property law and marketing. Usually, biotech companies, especially the one that make research efforts, don’t make sells until late in terms of existence as a research cycle for a product takes between 10 and 15 years. This is why companies don’t develop a turnover at the beginning of their existence and also why the general turnover in France is mainly realised by the companies that are 10 years old or more.

The biotech industry is thus requiring a lot of resources for companies to pursue their development and the main mean to get those funds is by finding external investors. 2006 and 2007 seem in this prospect to put an end to the investment crisis that occurred since 2001. The listing of French companies (Celectis, Metabolic Explorer, Genoway and Vivalis) at the stock market thus raised €500 million just for the first semester of 2007 and €129 million were also invested by venture capitalists during this period.

The biotech sector employs around 6000-7000 people. Approximately 3500-4000 of these people work specifically in research and development (R&D). Including the companies that are indirectly related to the development and production of biotechnologies, there are around 20,000 people employed in this sector.

In 2006:

  • 54 per cent of biotech companies were involved in an activity related to the human health and condition
  • 10 per cent related to animal health
  • 10 per cent to cosmetics
  • 10 per cent to human food
  • 2 per cent in animal food
  • 8 per cent produce material devices for research activities

Fifty per cent of all companies are involved in only one activity, 17 per cent in two activities and 15 per cent in three.


The biotechnology industry in France is driven by five main factors:

  • Government and private funding to academic research
  • Technology transfer between academia and biotechnology companies
  • Venture capital and stock markets
  • Pharma-biotech alliances
  • The growth of the healthcare market

In 2005, sales made up the largest sector of the market, with 57.2 per cent of market share in value terms, and this figure is expected to double within the next couple of years. Research funding accounts for 21.7 per cent of the market and royalties represent the smallest market sector with 4.6 per cent.


One of the key strengths of the French biotechnology industry is the number of research institutions, technology parks and scientific personnel active in the industry. France is second only to Germany in the number of full-time researchers working in the life sciences sector and ranks fourth in the world in the number of scientific works published every year.

The relatively recent Young Innovative Enterprise (Jeune Entreprise Innovante - JEI) initiative is starting to have an impact on the biomedical industry in France. This new type of fiscal status came into force in 2004 and over two-thirds of French biotechnology companies are now listed in this status.

Companies in this status must spend at least 15 per cent of their total annual expenditure in R&D and in return they receive exemptions from social security costs for employees involved in the projects. These exemptions are immediately reinvested in R&D: 74 per cent recruited R&D employees, 51 per cent started new R&D projects and 49 per cent bought R&D equipment.

This status makes France the most fiscally attractive country in Europe, and similar systems have already been duplicated elsewhere in Europe (eg. Belgium). Several foreign investors have invested in French companies thanks to this program.


Several new initiatives have been established in France to develop research and development in the biomedical industry. These include a National Agency for Research and final plans for a European Institute of Technology. The aims of these initiatives are to bring the best researchers (primarily from France and Europe) together to develop French multi-disciplinary research in the fields of biomedical and biotechnological science to a leading international level.


The French Government supports the biotechnology industry, often in partnership with the private sector and the academic community. A law passed in July 1999 on innovation and research allows researchers in the public sector to:

  • Create a company in order to develop their research work
  • Carry out consultancy work
  • Hold shares in a company
  • Become a company board member

This has facilitated technology transfer from academic institutions to the private sector. The law also provides tax credits and other financial mechanisms to encourage companies to hire young scientists.


Altogether, public funding for the biotech industry reached €2163 billion in 2006.

Technology transfer is a key component of the French industry and is the reason behind a large number of companies deciding to locate near centres of research excellence.

There are seven biopoles (biotechnology centres) out of the total 71 competition clusters in France that were awarded competitiveness labels by the government and which encourage local, regional and also international cooperation in support of industry growth.

In 2004, the government injected €500 million in these clusters that bring together public and private research centres as well as training institutions. Each one of them focus on specific activities:

  • Lyon BioPole (Rhône-Alpes): infectious diseases, vaccines and diagnostics (World dimension)
  • Medicen Paris Region (Ile de France): high technologies for health, cancer, CNS, infectious diseases, imaging, molecular and cellular therapies, drug development (World dimension)
  • Nutrition Santé Longevité (Nord Pas de Calais): nutrition, healthcare and longevity
  • Atlantic Biothérapies (Pays de la Loire): biotherapy, biodiagnostics
  • Innovations thérapeutiques (Alsace): from genomics to drugs, non-invasive surgery, medical devices
  • CancerBioSanté (Midi-Pyrénnées, Limousin): cancer
  • Orpheme (PACA, Languedoc-Roussillon): emerging pathologies and orphan diseases

In addition to these biopoles, there are eight genopoles – specialising in genomics and post-genomics research  that are organised in a general network, Réseau National des Génopoles. These genopoles bring together large public laboratories, university laboratories and advanced teaching in the fields of genomics and biology and biotechnology companies. They aim to encourage large-scale and cross-disciplinary research in projects in biological sciences and incubate innovative biotechnology companies. They are located in:

  • Evry/Ile de France
  • Montpellier and Perpignan/Languedoc Roussillon
  • Lille/Nord Pas de Calais
  • Lyon and Grenoble/Rhône-Alpes
  • Marseille & Nice/PACA
  • Strasbourg/Alsace-Lorraine
  • Toulouse/Midi-Pyrénées (Toulouse has also developed Agrobiopole, a 300-hectare complex focusing on agricultural biotechnology, as part of the region’s biotechnology strategy)
  • Rennes and Nantes/Ouest

Opportunities

Specific opportunities for Australian biotechnology companies include:

  • Drug discovery and development – opportunity to initiate collaborative research partnerships, technology transfer agreements or licensing ventures.
  • Collaborative research partnerships, technology transfer agreements and licensing.
  • Companies with product commercialisation, business and financial expertise to partner with early stage research companies and institutions.

Biotech products related to animal food, vegetal production and environment are minimally investigated by French companies and Australian companies could therefore find opportunities for these types of products.

Competitive environment

The French biotechnology industry is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, accounting for 70 per cent of the companies. There are also a number of leading multinationals active in the market including Aventis-Pasteur, Roche Diagnostics and Sanofi-Synthelabo.


The dominant French companies in the market (in terms of revenue) are LFB, Ethypharm Group, CEREP, Flamel Technologies, Rhobio and Genfit. Five public biotechnology companies are Genset, Nicox, Transgene, Sangstat, Cerep, Eurofins and Flamel. 

France Biotech is the French biotechnology association and the industry representative. They have been eager to help facilitate international investment in French biotechnological companies financially. 


Australia has a strong international reputation for its quality of science and as a source of intellectual capital. Several French biotechnology and biotechnology application companies have invested in Australia, and CSIRO has its European research centre in Montpellier. Australia’s expertise in stem cell research and overall biodiversity is recognised by leading French research organisations and the biotechnology industry.

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Tariffs, regulations and customs

All European Union (EU) countries are covered by a harmonised trade system. Common Customs Tariff (CCT) is applicable to goods from non-EU countries, including Australia. Goods travelling between EU countries member states are free of customs duty. Most duties are ad valorem (%), based on the GATT Valuation Code (approximate CIF value).


Certain products will need to comply with pan-European legislation for medical devices, medicines, foods and ingredients. There are also local variations in legislation, packaging and labelling that need careful consideration before shipping samples or final products.

 

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Marketing your products and services

Market entry

The main methods of market entry for biotechnology companies looking at France are:

  • Supply of products or raw materials
  • Collaborative research partnerships with French company/institution
  • Investment into France

Supplying to a European company is the traditional market entry strategy and a good option to consider for companies with products that can be easily combined by French end-users. Pharmaceutical companies are likely to be a major end-user. You can develop relationships with these companies via licensing, sales, contracting or R&D services.
 

Collaborating with French biotechnology/pharmaceutical companies and research institutions, often in the development phase. These relationships can take the form of:

  • Technology transfers
  • Licensing agreements
  • Co-development (platform development through to product pipeline)
  • Co-marketing
  • Capital risk investment (this is entirely private in France)  In 1999, €155 million of capital risk investments was spent in 167 projects within the biotechnology sector. 

Investing in France may be necessary in order to gain access to venture capital funding or research collaborations. This could take the form of setting up a branch of your company overseas, or acquiring a suitable French company.

Attending the yearly fair EuroBio in Lille is also a good way to meet bioscience and bioindustry stakeholders from Europe and across the World.

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Links and industry contacts

Biotechnology–related resources

Actinbiotech – www.actinbiotech.com
Alsace BioValley Association – www.biovalley.com
Biotech Industry Database – http://biotech.education.fr
Biotech in France – www.france-biotech.org/TEMPLATES/HOMEPAGE_UK.asp 
BioCentury – www.biocentury.com
BiotechInfo – www.biotechinfo.fr
EuropaBio – www.europabio.org
European bio-based economy website – www.bio-economy.net
European Federation of Biotechnology – www.efbweb.org
The European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products – www.emea.eu.int
French Biotech and Bio-industry Association – www.adebio.org
Leem – www.leem.org
Pharmaceutiques – www.pharmaceutiques.com
Recap – www.recap.com
Veille Biotech – www.info-veille-biotech.com

Biopole and genopole websites

Accompagnement porteurs projets & création (ACCEVAL) – www.acceval-irhn.com
Agence pour le Développement Economique de la Région Lyonnaise (ADERLY) – www.aderly.com
Angers Technopole – www.angerstechnopole.org
Atlanpole – www.atlanpole.fr
Atlantic Biothérapies – www.atlantic-biotherapies.com
Bio Incubateur Eurasanté – www.eurasante.com
Biotech Santé – www.parisbiotechsante.org
Bioparc – www.bioparc.com
BiotechNîmes – www.biotechnimes.org
Centre Européen d'Entreprise et d'Innovation de Montpellier Agglomération – www.montpellier-technopole.com
Genopole – www.genopole.fr
Genopole Evry – www.genopole.org
Grenoble Alpes Incubation (GRAIN) – www.grain-incubation.com
Impulse (Incubateur Aix-Marseille-Avignon) M.D.I. – www.incubateur-impulse.com
Incubateur Midi-Pyrénées - www.incubateurmipy.com
Incubateur Régional Poitou-charentes (IRPC) – www.irpc.asso.fr
Lille-Nord Pas de Calais Genopole – www.genopole-lille.fr
Languedoc-Roussillon Incubation (LRI) – www.lr-incubation.com
LyonBioPole – www.lyonbiopole.org
Marseille-Nice Genopole – www.genopole.univ-mrs.fr
Medicen Paris – www.medicen.org
Montpellier-Languedoc-Roussillon Génopole – www.genopole-montpellier-lr.org
Normandie Incubation – www.normandie-incubation.com
Nutrition Santé Longetivité – www.eurasante.com
Orpheme – www.orpheme.org
Ouest Genopole – www.ouest-genopole.org
Pasteur Genopole – www.pasteur.fr/recherche/genopole
Rhone-Alpes Genopole - www.rhone-alpes-genopole.com
Strasbourg-Alsace-Lorraine Genopole – www.genopole.u-strasbg.fr
Strasbourg Innovations Thérapeutiques – www.innovations-therapeutiques.fr
Toulouse-Midi-Pyrénées Genopole – http://genopole-toulouse.prd.fr
Toulouse Cancer BioSanté – www.canceropole-toulouse.com/page.php?menu=2&ssmenu=3

Research centres

Curie Institute – www.curie.fr
National Institute for Agricultural Research – www.inra.fr
National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) –  www.inserm.fr
National Science Research Centre (CNRS) – www.cnrs.fr
Pasteur Institute – www.pasteur.fr

Government, business and trade resources for France

Invest in France – www.investinfrance.org

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Contact details

The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) is the Australian Government’s trade and investment development agency, operating as a statutory agency within the Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio.

Austrade assists Australian businesses contribute to national prosperity by succeeding in trade and investment, internationally, and promoting and supporting productive foreign investment into Australia.

Austrade:

  • Delivers services that assist Australian businesses initiate, sustain and grow trade and outward investment.
  • Promotes Australia as an inward investment destination and, with the States and Territories, supports the inflow of productive foreign direct investment.
  • Administers the Export Market Development Grants scheme.
  • Undertakes initiatives designed to improve community awareness of, and commitment to, international trade and investment.
  • Provides advice to the Australian Government on its trade and investment development activities.
  • Delivers consular, passport and other government services in designated overseas locations.

A list of Austrade offices (in alphabetical order of country) is available.

More information

For further information please contact Austrade on 13 28 78 or email info@austrade.gov.au

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