Targeted meetings with healthcare and biotech companies in San Francisco

Provence Promotion at the BIO International Convention

Provence Promotion will be at the BIO International Convention from June 6 through 9, 2016 in San Francisco. Our goal: to conduct a prospecting campaign targeting healthcare and biotech companies. More than twenty meetings have been set up so far, all of them relating to the areas of expertise of the Aix-Marseille Provence region. At the same time, Eurobiomed, the top French healthcare biocluster encompassing nearly 250 companies in the south of France, will represent the region in the French Pavilion with their Provence-Alpes-Côtes d’Azur booth. In addition, a regional delegation led by ARII (the Regional Agency for Innovation and Internationalization) will be on hand for the opening of the booth on June 7. This task force will help foster economic and scientific exchanges between the south of France and California while also encouraging business owners to begin expanding into Europe with a location in Provence.

Provence Promotion is gearing up to meet with companies from America and around the globe at the BIO International Convention, the world's largest biotech trade fair. The agency is looking forward to telling them about investment opportunities in the Aix-Marseille Provence region.

Iconic companies and start-ups from the sector are flourishing in this southern European region near the Mediterranean. The location plays a key role, but even more important is the robust scientific ecosystem boasting experts in the fields of immunology, oncology and medical diagnostics.

To convince these companies of the region's business development potential, Provence Promotion will point to the high-quality research facilities in the area, including academic laboratories (CNRS, INSERM, IRD, etc.) and shared platforms that host companies and act as hubs for discovery and innovation.

Major projects like Immunopôle and Infectiopôle are also sure to pique the interest of potential investors. Taking a structured, thematic approach to the sector, these clusters are invaluable in coordinating the various players and the work they are doing at hospitals and research centers.

Providing incentives and commercializing research

Naturally, there will be an emphasis on the tax benefits of the CIR (Research Tax Credit) and CICE (Tax Credit for Competitiveness and Employment) for scientific projects. These government incentives are key drivers for investments from foreign companies that wish to establish a presence in France.
Provence Promotion will present on accessing technology created through public research with help from companies specializing in accelerating technology transfers (known as SATTs). SATT Sud Est, a Provence Promotion partner also attending to BIO, supports business owners as they transfer technology from the academic world to the marketplace.

As an economic development agency with a finger on the pulse of the market and an understanding of the needs of foreign companies, Provence Promotion is a source for detailed information on the sector, the region and the process of establishing a location in Provence, putting its proven expertise to work to create contacts between companies and local players.

Since the initial prospecting campaign got underway in San Diego several years ago, the agency has been taking part in the work of the South Bio Alliance, which brings together economic players in the healthcare and biotech sector from the south of France and California. In September 2016, the agency and its partners will invite Californian healthcare companies to visit the region, beginning in Nice and passing through Toulon on the way to Marseille.

To meet with Provence Promotion at the BIO International Convention
or to learn more about the delegation's visit in September,
contact Matthieu Vis, m.vis@provence-promotion.fr, +33 6 85 90 60 25

In 2015, eight healthcare and biotech companies from France and abroad chose to invest in Bouches-du-Rhône area with Provence Promotion.