Medicen Paris Region: French Society of Radiology becomes the first ‘learned society’ to join the cluster

Paris, February 7, 2018 – Medicen Paris Region, the leading health cluster in Europe, today announces that the French Society of Radiology (SFR) joined the cluster as the first ‘learned society’ member. In the coming months, a number of innovative imaging projects will be launched as part of the collaboration, addressing the needs of SFR radiologists. These joint projects will bring together members of Medicen and other players from the innovation ecosystem of the Paris region.

With the aging population and the increased rate of chronic diseases, nearly 80 million medical imaging scans are performed annually in France. This figure is set to increase every year by around four per cent. Market research analysts predict that the global medical imaging market will grow at a CAGR of nearly 5% by 2020. The growing focus on R&D to provide high-quality imaging for better diagnosis and treatment of diseases is a critical factor that drives the global demand for medical imaging devices during 2016-2020.[1]

“We started working with Medicen in 2015 and were the first learned society to do so,” says Professor Jean-François Meder, president of SFR. “As part of the partnership agreement that included occasional cooperation, Medicen is already part of our innovation committee. We aim to mobilize academic research and start-ups to drive innovation through various initiatives.”

Medicen and SFR have already launched a number of initiatives, including the ‘Innovation Village’ and the ‘SFR-Medicen-SNITEM prize for innovation in medical imaging’. These aims to increase the visibility of start-ups in diagnostics and interventional medical imaging. They take place each year during the Francophone Radiology Days (JFR) in collaboration with the National Union of the Medical Technologies Industry (SNITEM). In 2018, SFR plans to add a dedicated ‘Medicen’ page on its website to provide radiologists with information on innovation.

“These initiatives are perfectly in line with our approach to promoting innovation. They constitute a major opportunity in bringing not only visibility to these technologies and start-ups, but also in helping bring together radiologists and established industrialists,” said Christian Lajoux, president of Medicen Paris Region. “This partnership is fully aligned with Medicen’s strategy. We believe that SFR will be a welcome addition to our members.”

The ‘SFR-Medicen-SNITEM prize for innovation in medical imaging’ selects a winner and a company that it is ‘highly commended’. Both are offered privileged access to the three organizations (Medicen, SFR and SNITEM) as well as the JFR meeting the following year. The 2017 winners were Therapixel (winner) and Basecamp Vascular (highly commended). In previous years, the awards were given to Anatoscope (laureate) and Instent (highly commended) for 2016 and LLtech (laureate) and Healtis (highly commended) in 2015.

The ’Village Innovation’ initiative acknowledges innovative technologies in the field of diagnostics and interventional radiology, with or without academic research.

About the French Society of Radiology (SFR)

The French Society of Radiology is a non-profit association. The purpose of the SFR is to develop expertise on all topics related to imaging and disseminate it on its website during the society’s annual Francophone Radiology Days (JFR), or via written or electronic publications.

Owner of the Journal of Radiology, the French Society of Radiology has entrusted publication to Elsevier Masson.

The society awards grants and prizes to encourage the development of research in France and abroad. It publishes educational materials and recommendations on good practice.

SFR is affiliated to all European and international radiological institutions. It has built a network of strong relations with many – mainly francophone – societies.

www.sfrnet.org/sfr/

About Medicen Paris Region

Medicen Paris Region is a competitiveness cluster for innovative health technologies, with national and international scope. With more than 300 companies, research centers, universities, hospitals and local authorities as members, it aims to position the Paris region as Europe’s leading healthcare cluster. It focuses on five strategic areas: biological diagnostics, diagnostic and interventional imaging, regenerative medicine and biomaterials, digital health and translational medicine. In close collaboration with local, regional and national healthcare innovation players, Medicen Paris Region aims to:

• Foster the emergence, development and funding of certified collaborative projects in the healthcare sector, in order to create economic value and jobs
• Increase the international development of innovative startups and SMEs
• Strengthen the attractiveness of the Paris region, which represents more than 50% of life sciences activity in France

Since the creation of the cluster in 2005, 62 innovative products have been launched in the imaging, medical devices and biological tools sectors. The cluster has certified 292 projects. They received funding from the French government (French Inter-Ministry Fund FUI, Structuring Projects fund), the public investment bank Bpifrance, the National Research Agency, the European Regional Development Fund, the Investments for the Future program and/or local authorities, and the Paris region. Total investment is close to €1.9 billion ($2.3bn) and €533 million ($635M) of public aid.

www.medicen.org

[1] http://www.evaluategroup.com/Universal/View.aspx?type=Story&id=617601