Innovation and Diversification Take Center Stage at Medical Devices Meetings

Provence Promotion was in Stuttgart, Germany on March 8th - 9th, 2017 to take part in the Medical Devices Meetings, an event mostly dedicated to medical technologies. Its participation, part of its strategy to attract companies to the Aix-Marseille Provence region, had two reasons: Germany, the second largest investor in France, is one of the agency's priority targets and health is one of the sectors of excellence in its action plan. Furthermore, the market development campaign was a joint undertaking with Team Henri-Fabre aimed at promoting the regional offer around the theme of R&D for the industries of tomorrow. New opportunities for manufacturers and SMEs based on cross-fertilization and experimentation with new applications. 

Medical Devices Meetings is an international forum for the medical technologies sector providing a maximum of opportunities for B2B meetings and networking. During two days, Provence Promotion met about twenty companies of various business backgrounds and promoted the region's assets in terms of developing new medical technologies. 

One of these assets is the extensive local network available to businesses: major research centers such as the CNRS, INSERM and Paoli-Calmettes Institute, plus numerous medical facilities (hospital complexes, clinics, health centers, medical practices...).

The main attraction on the Provence Promotion stand was the Henri-Fabre Project, the aim of which is to encourage the emergence of the industries of the future based on new technologies and cross-fertilization between SMEs, start-ups, researchers and manufacturers.

Henri-Fabre – Providing Real Support to Innovation

The Henri-Fabre Project is a strategic project that has brought together more than 200 partners from private and public sectors in an industrial renewal plan for industry in the PACA region around the themes of mechanical engineering, materials and processes of the future.

Its multi-sector approach and the associated creation of technology centers have attracted huge interest from SMEs and manufacturers in the specialist field of medical devices seeking to grow through innovation and diversification.

Within the Aix-Marseille Provence metropolitan area, there are four industrial zones (Les Florides technology Park in Marignane, the Empallières Business Park in St. Victoret, Cap Horizon in Vitrolles and the Istres Aeronautical Center) of a total of 175 hectares under development. A total of €300M has been invested in real estate, buildings and transportation to provide businesses with the best possible facilities, plus another €100M in pooled resources.

Opened in September, 2016, the Henri-Fabre Technology Center already provides major groups and manufacturers with access to three research laboratories specializing in physical and chemical characterization of materials, coatings of the future and metal forming and assembly. Bringing together complementary R&D skills is a major asset for companies’ growth. The aim of the Henri-Fabre Center is to provide support to companies' R&D projects and to help them move into new markets.