Missions
Missions
What is a competitiveness cluster?
A partnership, based around a specific theme and a specific region
A competitiveness cluster brings together large and small firms, research laboratories and educational establishments, all working together in a specific region to develop synergies and cooperative efforts.
Other partners may be brought in, such as public authorities, either local or national, as well as firms providing business services.
Competitiveness clusters think big
The goal of competitiveness clusters is to build on synergies and innovative, collaborative projects in order to give partner firms the chance to become the best in their fields, both in France and abroad.
* source: www.competitivite.gouv.fr
Ambitions of Medicen Paris Region
Founded in 2005, the Medicen Paris Region global competitiveness cluster aims to position the Paris Region as a European industrial leader in diagnostic and therapeutic innovation and leading-edge health technologies, thus enabling it to become one of the global centres for translational medicine.
Medicen Paris Region’s partnership approach is based on the concept of economic value creation in the Paris Region stimulated by innovation, which forms the very basis of the creation of competitiveness clusters and sets three main priorities:
- developing growth and employment in profitable markets in a successful dynamic relationship between YICs/SMEs, large firms and academic laboratories, clinical centres and educational establishments, promoting transfer of innovative technologies;
- strengthening international competitiveness for the French “health and leading-edge health technology” sector promoting those involved and stimulating the Paris Region’s capacity for innovation;
- helping to increase the attractiveness of the Paris Region and the vitality of its healthcare sector
Geographical scope
The cluster covers large firms, research centres, universities, hospitals and economic development parks hosting biotechnology companies in the Paris Region, which includes Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Essonne, Yvelines and Val-d'Oise.
The development of innovation through technology transfer from research institutes to industry and speeding up marketing, i.e. availability of new diagnostic, therapeutic and/or technological developments for patient benefit lies at the heart of Medicen Paris Region’s strategy.
Key R&D areas
By putting the patient at the centre of its strategic aims, Medicen Paris Region makes translational medicine its top priority. Translational medicine sits at the crossroads of clinical and non-clinical cognitive, explanatory and epidemiological research and must be both integrating and federating:
- integrating the complex effects that underpin pathological phenotypes (integrative biology);
- pooling all knowledge, skills and talents that can improve understanding and better diagnose diseases to improve patient care.
With that aim in mind, the cluster will develop clinical research and imaging and will use biological tools (which are constantly changing), bio-therapeutic products and advances in bio-digital and bio-informatic systems and e-health.
Medicen’s priority areas for diagnostic and therapeutic applications are those in which it has already invested: cancer, neurodegenerative, sensory and psychiatric illnesses and infectious diseases. The technological aspects of the cluster also include other areas of treatment such as cardiovascular disease. These applications are major public health challenges.
Outside of the diagnostic and therapeutic products markets, cluster members’ activities are directly targeting the imaging, biological engineering and bio-instrumentation markets.
