Students, entrepreneurs, startups, researchers, laboratories, research institutes, SMEs, EPIs and large groups… Nearly five months after its inauguration, PariSanté Campus has already managed to bring together leading players in digital health in its 15,000m2 premises in Paris. In this way, it is fulfilling the very essence of its mission, namely to unite the various links in the digital health chain to promote innovation in France and accelerate the emergence of champions.
On 14 December 2021, after a gestation period of only one year, this innovative campus was inaugurated by Prime Minister Jean Castex, in the presence of the Minister for Solidarity and Health, Olivier Véran, the Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Frédérique Vidal, the Minister Delegate for Industry, Agnès Pannier-Runacher and the Government Spokesperson, Gabriel Attal, who were naturally associated with the five founding partners (Inserm, the Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL), Inria, the Health and Digital Agency and the Health Data Hub).
The first batch of startups was revealed on 10 March 2022 in the presence of Cédric O and Clara Chappaz, and included 60 businesses, out of over 100 applications. Their areas of expertise include drug discovery, training, patient-health data platforms, artificial intelligence, medical devices and connected objects, etc. Other selection committees will take decisions as and when startups become independent.
“Almost five months after the inauguration, the assessment is very positive. We were able to roll out the first year’s road map. The site exists and is operational. We continue to develop tools aimed at creating synergies between all the players, and to structure and coordinate a national network around digital health, with the powerful aim of adding a national dimension to the momentum provided by PariSantéCampus,” Professor Antoine Tesnière, Director of PariSanté Campus.
Every day, hundreds of students enrolled in digital health programs at the Université de Paris Sciences & Lettres come to attend tutorials or lectures in the auditorium.
At the same time, three of the planned four research institutes, have started up operations – the Institut PR[AI]RIE (Paris Artificial Intelligence Research Institute), the Institut Santé Numérique en Société et Q-Bio. Physics for Medicine will join them soon.
The premises also host a varied program of events. The French presidency of the European Union has made it possible to host conferences on the challenges of industrial sovereignty in health and on cross-border cooperation for digital health. The Health Data Hub also organized in situ the day of strategic data in Europe, and over three days, from 14 to 16 March 2022, the Agence du Numérique en Santé (ANS) organized a multi-voice projectathon on the interoperability framework of health information systems. In addition, events alongside the Vivatech show will be held on the PariSanté Campus in June 2022.
PariSanté Campus is also keen to increase the number of international events in order to connect, on a European scale, reference sites that wish to build bridges around innovation, in research, care or training. “The challenge is to understand the complementary aspects that we can provide, as they relate to the strategies deployed by Business France. They are very varied depending on the territories and the players involved,” Professor Tesnière added. “Our goal is to exemplify the major public policies in the area of digital health, and to accompany the major elements of the road map in so far as they relate to the digital health acceleration strategy.” This strategy was announced in October 2021 by French President Emmanuel Macron and aims to transform France into one of the global e-health leaders by 2030.
