On September 17th, the French Healthcare Alliance (FHA) held with great success its 10th plenary meeting in Shanghai. This year’s edition was very ambitious with a full day program: individual meetings in the morning between members and the steering committee of the Alliance, a Plenary session in the afternoon, and as a conclusion an exceptional cocktail at the French Consulate general’s Residence in Shanghai. In total, more than one hundred participants joined the French Healthcare Alliance’s events on that day, representing a wide range of health-related industries and companies, along with several healthcare practitioners.
Benoit GUIDEE, Consul general of France in Shanghai, opened the plenary session. He highlighted the dynamism of the French Healthcare Alliance and wished a great success to the coming events. He reiterated his support to the French healthcare companies’ development in China and reminded the audience of the long and fruitful cooperation between France and China in the field of healthcare. French companies, but also public research institutions, have been in China for many years, bringing innovations but also manufacturing capacities and services to China.
French Healthcare Alliance’s co-chairmen Olivier DESSAJAN (Colisée group) and Antoine OUSTRIN (Business France) gave a brief overview of the Alliance’s activities over the last 12 months and its objectives and upcoming activities. In this regard, they told the audience that the Alliance’s strength and development strongly depend on its members’ commitments and initiatives. Looking to the future, the Alliance is open for new members and contributors, to join and engage with an already dynamic community. The co-chairmen also announced the launch of a new working group, regrouping French medical devices companies. The objectives of this group are to discuss about regulations, best practices, business opportunities and also organize common promotional actions in China.
For this year’s plenary session, the French Healthcare Alliance invited 12 industry experts, including some members of the steering committee, to share their experiences and insights with the audience, for 3 thematic round table discussions.
The first panel was focused on innovation and the future of healthcare in China. Moderated by Eric BOUTEILLER (Jumo Partners, CEIBS), it gathered speakers from bioMérieux (XIA Yijun), Servier (Barry WANG), Amulet Health Technology (Patrick NOWLIN), and Aden (Philippe OBRY). Each company presented and discussed about innovations in their field that are significantly improving the early identification of new epidemic, the patient journey and the building of new ad hoc hospital infrastructures.
The second panel, moderated by Benoit RAOULT (Jumo Partners), was dedicated to medical marketing in the new regulatory framework. Speakers from Thuasne (Benoit DERINCK), DS Avocats (Isabelle DOYON) and Sanofi (Guilhem GRANIER) discussed about how recent regulations, data hosting and marketing best practices are combined by pharmaceutical and medical devices companies, in a context of digitization and the strengthening of regulations.
Finally, the third panel covered the business challenges in the field of silver economy in China. Speakers from Colisée (Olivier DESSAJAN), Hinounou (Charles BARK), Legrand (Andrea LAMIERI) et Orpéa (Thierry COSTANZO) exchanged views and insights regarding the senior care industry in China. Moderated by Antoine OUSTRIN (Business France), this discussion showed how French operators brought international standards to their China operations, how they adapted their strategies and solutions to face local needs and how they addressed challenges in terms of partnering locally, competing with local players and dealing with human resources challenges, etc.
Warm thanks and regards to all the speakers who share their views and experiences during this event and thanks to everyone for joining.
Many thanks to the steering committee members who organized this event and thanks to PWC for hosting the event and providing logistic support all along.
