A hub of leading healthcare facilities

A few figures: the Côte d’Azur’s health and life sciences sector denotes

• €2.3 billion in revenue (+6% in 2013)—over half of which was generated by exports—by 223 companies (2012) and 8,800 jobs.
• 9 hospitals, 26 clinics, 7 specialist centers
• Business sectors: biological and medical engineering, pharmaceuticals, biotechnologies, fine chemicals and aromas, cosmetology, biomaterials, the plant kingdom, veterinary products
  
  

Unless otherwise indicated, data obtained from the CCI NCA [Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nice, Alpes Maritimes]

The developments in the sector are based on:

• The Biopharma Cluster: one of the main health clusters in France
  It includes 6,000 life science researchers, 250 research labs, and manages 428 R&D projects. The cluster has centered its focus on 5 priority axes: in vitro diagnostics, medical imaging, medical devices, e-health, and new therapies (Source Eurobiomed 2012/2013).
  
  
• ICT expertise in the service of e-health
  Life sciences and information technologies converge to create a unique ecosystem on the Côte d’Azur, where three high-tech clusters optimize collaboration between research labs and innovative companies.
  The industry—at the cutting edge of oncology, central nervous system diseases, nutrition and metabolism, dermatology, and ocular pathologies—has naturally opened up to e-health by taking advantage of the ICT expertise in Sophia Antipolis, and has found outlets in the Côte d’Azur’s “silver economy”, which offers a fertile ground for conducting clinical studies and experiments.
  
  

• A breeding ground of researchers and students in the service of life science excellence
  The teams from the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, the INSERM [French Institute of Health and Medical Research], and the CNRS are partners within their joint laboratories of excellence. No fewer than 17 research teams work at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology (IPMC), with 21 teams at the Valrose Biology Institute (IBV). There are approximately 3,400 medical students and 3,700 students from scientific disciplines at French Riviera universities.

The City of Nice and the Metropole Nice Côte d'Azur, acquired, towards the end of 2015, a new tool to develop connected health and invest in the promising sector of the Silver Economy: 27 Delvalle!

The first building block of the European City of Health, the City of Nice and the Metropole Nice Côte d'Azur are undertaking, the "27 Delvalle" building houses all the agencies in the Nice health eco-system and puts digital and emerging technologies at the service of supporting senior autonomy and growing old gracefully.

27 Delvalle will host training rooms for health professionals, equipped with the latest technologies, a simulation and demonstration apartment, equipped with video facilities, a hothouse for start-ups in connected health, the headquarters of the Centre of Innovation and Applications in Health (CIU-Santé) and the headquarters of France Silver Eco, which has been directing from Nice its national and European activities in this innovative sector.

27 Delvalle will soon house the International Academy of Gerontology, which will train in its master class, 25 handpicked young gerontologists.