After “several years of lack of investment”, Emmanuel Macron announced a series of public funding in the field of biomedical research, Tuesday, May 16.
The Head of State first announced public support for ten new university hospital institutes (IHU) – in Nice, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Lyon and Ile-de-France – as well as “two Emerging IHUs”, in Nancy and Toulouse. In total, this first part of investments concerning these twelve new IHUs – which are added to the seven already labeled – is estimated at “a little over 300 million euros”, specified the President of the Republic.
These centers are specifically intended for subjects as diverse as gerontology (Toulouse), female cancers (Institut Curie in Paris) or cerebrovascular diseases (Bordeaux). By funding these projects, the stated objective is to bring together the various health skills – care, research and innovation – within centers of excellence and thus allow the development of integrated research projects to “improve the health of patients, the organization of care and the health system”.
Five publicly and privately funded “bio-clusters”
Secondly, Emmanuel Macron announced the financing of “five global ‘bio-clusters'”: Saclay (whose public investment had already been announced), Marseille, Paris, Lyon and AFM-Téléthon.
The public envelope is estimated at “400 million euros” and “local authorities will come alongside the State to invest (…) and industrialists undertake to finance these projects”, underlined Mr. Macron. The Head of State estimates that private investment will reach “more than 100% or even 200%” of the public envelope, thus making it possible to exceed “very largely (…) 1.5 billion euros” of investment in the total.
Finally, the Head of State announced the creation of around fifty “chairs of excellence in biology and health” financed “up to 2 million euros” each. This is a call for projects launched for teams including some of the “world’s best scientists” to obtain funding for five years in order to carry out research programs in France. According to the President of the Republic, the device will be launched in “the next few days”. “We want to train more, keep the talent we train and attract talent from around the world,” Macron summed up.
An action plan for biomedical research “within six months”
The President of the Republic wanted consultations between “all the players concerned” and François Braun, Minister of Health, Sylvie Retailleau, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and Roland Lescure, Minister delegate in charge of industry, be carried out “within six months” in order to establish an “action plan” for “more unified and more efficient biomedical research”.
These funding announcements are part of the “Health Innovation 2030” plan, which aims to strengthen France’s international attractiveness in biomedical research. The total envelope is 7.5 billion euros, of which more than 1 billion will be devoted to research and other programs of excellence launched soon, announced the Head of State.