The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region is one of the most industrialised in France, ranking first nationally for the total number of industrial jobs. In Lyon, healthcare is a major economic driver, with Sanofi being the largest private employer, HCL the largest employer and healthcare accounting for 35,000 private jobs (72,500 jobs including healthcare). Lyon is home to France’s second-largest pharmaceutical industry, with 260 pharmaceutical and biotech companies, 800 life sciences companies and 150 healthcare companies.
Two other key players are the Lyonbiopôle biocluster, the regional gateway to innovation in the health sector, and the Pulsalys technology transfer office, with more than 40 start-ups created and a portfolio of 100 families of industrial property in health innovation, mainly from higher education establishments. Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 and Université Lumière Lyon 2 have a combined student body of 75,000 and cover the fields of medicine, science, technology and human and social sciences.
Chiffres Clés
2nd psychiatric hospital in France
1st national centre for medical interns (Internship’)
High-level research in oncology, neurology and immunology
15% des publications en oncologie au niveau national
15% of publications in oncology at national level
<span style="color: #ffffff;"2nd French university site in terms of patents (>80 patents filed/year)highly cited researchers in health and biomedical sciences
National leader in simulation-based medical training
With more than 6,000 beds, the Hospices civils de Lyon (HCL), the Centre Léon Berard and Le Vinatier form the second largest university hospital system in France, the leading national hub for medical interns, the second for the number of competitive clinical research grants, centres of reference for rare diseases and cancer expert centres, and a national leader in simulation-based medical training (SimuLyon).
The partners have set up 10 high-level health research platforms, such as the emblematic CERMEP (preclinical and clinical in vivo biomedical imaging platform) and the AURAGEN genome sequencing platform (> 7,000 sequenced genomes).
Lyon is home to the IARC-WHO (> 250 researchers) and the WHO Lyon Office, recognised as a centre of excellence for public and global health. In 2024, the opening of the WHO Academy in Lyon will provide the largest and most innovative platform for lifelong learning in the field of global health. SHAPE also enjoys strong support from all the local authorities and companies in the region.
Higher education and research institutions covering all health-related disciplines
The 2nd largest university hospital system in France
Associated partners
