France biotech urges change

France needs to invest more in the life sciences and concentrate its efforts on developing two or three main biotech clusters if it is to strengthen its competitiveness, the French biotech industry will argue during consultation meetings with government officials over the next few weeks.France Biotech, an umbrella group for Biotech firms, told The Scientist that it will be making its case for change in a series of discussions and debates as the French government prepares to draft legislation for a major overhaul of the country's national science strategy next spring.The industry's recommendations, made jointly with the pharmaceutical industry group Les Entreprises du medicament, complement 24 proposals for reforming research that were put forward by French scientists in Grenoble last week.Philippe Pouletty, the president of France Biotech, said that the scientific community in France had begun to organize itself to lobby the government more effectively. "Something of a revolution is taking place in science in France. Scientists and entrepreneurs realize that they must take the initiative in their own hands," Pouletty told The Scientist. He said that the French government, media, and public had also come to understand the importance of science for the country's future.The first recommendation from the biotech and pharmaceutical groups is that 60% of all the funds at the disposal of the new National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche) should be allocated to the life sciences. The funds at the disposal of the agency could be as high as €1 billion (USD $1.3 billion) each year, although it will only be €550 million (USD $710 million) in the first year.Pouletty said that the National Research Agency had to use international criteria of scientific excellence to select projects, and channel funds to the best project, irrespective of the entity that the researchers belong to, such as the French Institute of Health and Medical Research, the National Center for Scientific Research, or universities.The second recommendation is for the government to support moves to concentrate biotech clusters to two or three centers of excellence. "Only by stronger linkages between academic centers of excellence, startups, bigger companies, and investors, as happens in the US, can we reach the critical mass and excellence in key areas," said Pouletty. "[Then we can] be very competitive with respect to the best overseas centers, both in terms of human and financial resources and fiscal and scientific attractiveness."Thirdly, Pouletty urged the government to support one or two large-scale French–European life science research projects because these would "prove exciting for researchers and public alike and promote breakthrough discoveries."Michel Puceat, from the French National Research Center's Macromolecular Biochemical Research Center in Montpellier, said he broadly favored the proposals. "Yes, I think that concentrating on two or three biotech clusters would have a beneficial effect on research," he told The Scientist.Puceat also welcomed the proposal to spend up to 60% of the funds from the new national research agency on the life sciences. "The life sciences need to be developed a lot in France," he said.France's biotech sector is currently ranked third in Europe behind Germany and the United Kingdom, the European leader, whose biotech sector is four times larger than France's. "France started late with a law in 1998–1999 that allowed scientists from academia to become shareholders in companies," Pouletty said. Pouletty said that a relatively strong pharma industry in France helped biotech companies by providing opportunities for collaborative research as well as funds. "The reforms are going in the right direction," he said. "But the next few months will be critical."

France biotech urges change

As the government prepares to overhaul science, the biotech industry puts its oar in

Nov 9, 2004

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