France is betting big on industrial transformation. With its sweeping EUR 54 billion France 2030 investment plan, the government has laid down a clear ambition: to become a global leader in innovation and industrial competitiveness. While foreign investment is flowing in, and biomedicine production is robust, local pharma industry leaders warn that rising global competition and pricing pressures still threaten the nation’s competitivity.
Towards Industrial Transformation
Over the past several years, France has launched a comprehensive suite of industrial transformation policies aimed at enhancing manufacturing competitiveness and accelerating innovation, as well as attracting international investments. These efforts are anchored by the France 2030 initiative, a EUR 54 billion programme designed to future-proof the nation’s economy.
A cornerstone of this strategy is the Healthcare Innovation 2030 scheme, which targets the life sciences sector through support for biomedical research, a push for national medicine production, digitalisation, and decarbonisation.
Fiscal incentives are also central to the approach. Production taxes for manufacturing have been slashed by EUR 14 billion annually, while corporate tax rates have been lowered to further improve the business climate.
According to Thomas Courbe, director general for Enterprise at the French Ministry of Economy and Finance, this approach is already yielding results. “The most compelling evidence of our strategy’s effectiveness is France’s sustained position as the most attractive destination for foreign investment in Europe, including the UK. This achievement reflects the cumulative impact of our comprehensive policy framework,” he asserts.
For a number of international life sciences players and France-headquartered companies, these policies have also proven to be attractive incentives. Over the past two years the country has drawn a steady stream of investments with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sanofi, and Novo Nordisk all making considerable financial commitments to their France-based operations.
The Battle to Stay Competitive
Despite recent wins, not everyone is convinced the foundation is solid enough to withstand growing global pressures. Didier Véron, president of G5 Santé—the group representing France’s top pharma CEOs—argues that while the policies are promising, they fall short of what is needed to reverse the country’s slipping competitiveness in pharma.
“France has fallen to sixth place in Europe for pharmaceutical exports and ninth for trade balance, ceding ground to countries such as Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands,” he explains. “Faced with inflation, rising energy and raw material costs, and unsustainably low margins, several companies have been forced to relocate production to lower-cost regions, including China.”
Although government policies aim to reward domestic investment, annual price cuts for pharmaceuticals—voted into the national budget—continue to erode margins, deterring further growth. “In 2025, more than EUR 1 billion in price reductions is expected. We believe essential medicines manufactured in France should be exempt from these blanket measures,” says Véron.
To counter this, G5 Santé supports the not yet fully implemented Article 75 of the 2025 Social Security Financing Law, which would allow the deciding body, the Economic Committee for Health Products (CEPS), to factor in the manufacturing location of a medicine when setting its price. “If fully applied, [Article 75] would allow industrial commitment to be recognised in pricing decisions, transforming a theoretical mechanism into a meaningful tool of industrial policy,” he argues.
“This is not about erecting barriers; it is about acknowledging those who have made long-term commitments to France. If France wants to remain a strategic location for life sciences, regulation must reflect the value of those who have chosen to build here,” Véron adds.
A Robust Industry Worth Supporting
France’s pharmaceutical sector remains one of the strongest in Europe. It boasts 271 production sites and generates EUR 34 billion in annual turnover—the second-highest in Europe. The country’s central geographic location at the heart of Europe further enhances its strategic value.
Lawmakers are aware of the sector’s importance. “The healthcare sector represents one of our most strategically significant industries, both from an economic and a sovereignty perspective,” says Courbe. “It encompasses 200,000 jobs across 3,100 companies engaged in research and development or manufacturing activities, spanning pharmaceutical, medical device, and digital health segments.”
For Courbe, the government’s ambitious healthcare plan is surpassing its objectives. “Within our France 2030 programme, the Health Innovation 2030 plan has exceeded all initial projections,” he explains. “We estimate that we will produce 60 biomedicines in France by 2030.”
Yet for Véron, persistent structural challenges cast a shadow over these achievements. He warns that unless pricing and fiscal issues are resolved, France risks losing momentum just as international competition heats up.
“The ‘France 2030’ programme, and specifically its Health Innovation pillar, has reinforced France’s strengths,” Véron concedes. However, he notes: “France’s drug prices remain systematically below the European average. Meanwhile, the fiscal burden on manufacturers continues to grow. The safeguard clause alone, originally marginal, now amounts to over EUR 1.6 billion annually, a figure that weighs heavily on the sector.”
France is at a critical juncture, says Véron, underlining the urgency of the situation. “The need to implement bold measures to enhance France’s and Europe’s industrial competitiveness has never been more critical. This urgency is amplified by the increasingly assertive protectionist stance of the United States and the rapid strides China is making in innovation.”
