LSAA calls on France to align its health policy with its life sciences ambitions
Paris – June 26, 2026 – The Life Sciences Acceleration Alliance (LSAA) has submitted two contributions to the Leem consultation “Au cœur du soin – Pour l’avenir du médicament” / “At the Heart of Care – The Future of Medicines”, a national dialogue on the future of the pharmaceutical sector in France. The process is designed to inform upcoming policy discussions, in particular the preparation of the Social Security Financing Bill for 2027 (PLFSS 2027), and to contribute to the broader healthcare debate ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
France has undeniable strengths: world-class academic research and an active industrial base. Yet, as LSAA’s contributions make clear, the country’s pricing policies and budgetary choices are increasingly at odds with its stated ambitions in health innovation, and the consequences are tangible for both patients and investors.
Leem press conference on June 25, “Access to treatments, therapeutic progress, France’s attractiveness: regain the advantage or fall behind?”, reinforces this assessment. The 2026 Attractiveness Barometer 360° published by Leem (conducted by PwC) confirms that France is progressively losing ground in international rankings, notably on innovation, taxation, and pricing, findings that directly echo LSAA’s own analysis.
The picture that emerges is one of a twofold gap. On patient access, the median time between marketing authorisation and effective access to new medicines in France stood at 520 days in 2025 — one of the longest delays in Europe — while 40% of therapeutic innovations remain entirely unavailable to French patients. On the investment side, France devotes only 0.29% of its GDP per capita to innovative medicines, a level below that of comparable European peers. This weakens the financial case for biotechs targeting France as a priority market, and pushes clinical trials, first launches, and capital commitments towards other countries.
To reverse this trajectory, LSAA puts forward six concrete proposals:
– Guaranteeing effective patient access within 16 months of EMA approval
– Introducing automatic provisional reimbursement at the time of European authorisation
– Auditing and reforming the Early Access Programme
– Establishing a public European benchmarking dashboard for France’s innovation performance
– Aligning France 2030 ambitions with the annual Social Security Financing Act decisions
– Committing to a stable, multi-year pricing and reimbursement framework
As Leem President underlined during the press conference, the PLFSS 2027 is a decisive milestone, and the time for action is now. As France approaches a presidential election, the next legislative cycle will send a powerful signal about the country’s capacity to position itself as a leading player in European health innovation. LSAA calls on policymakers and candidates alike to treat this moment as an opportunity: for patients, for investors, and for France’s health sovereignty.
Read LSAA’s full contributions to the Leem consultation: Patient Access / Health System Efficiency