With this project, which brings together the Occitanie Region, the Metropolitan area of Montpellier and the State, Montpellier will become a global center of excellence in health, environment, nutrition and good living.
On September 16, 2021, the Med Vallée was presented to economic actors by the Metropolitan area of Montpellier and its main partners.
It was during the plenary meeting of October 21 that the Region formalized its commitment as a founder of the Med Vallée.
The origin of the project
Initiated by the Metropolitan area of Montpellier, this project was born when Mickaël Delafosse, the current mayor of Montpellier, noticed that the region's economic activity was often grouped together in the same area, but also that the university and the CHU (University Hospital Centre) were engaged in profound transformations with a significant momentum supported by MUSE (Montpellier University of Excellence), the ICM (Regional Institute of Cancer)... Historically speaking, Montpellier is a major hot spot for the health sector and is home to the oldest medical school in the Western world still in operation.
This is an ecosystem that Med Vallée wants to incite by federating the energies of all the players: local authorities, the State and also private players.
Philippe Domy (former director of the Montpellier University Hospital) has been appointed as the representative of Med Vallée: he will lead the way and bring together all the players in this project.
A highly favorable ecosystem
The fields the project will focus on are health, agri-agro and environment: these 3 disciplines are coherent in terms of the scientific qualification of their activities and the international reputation of the teams that make them up. This is a remarkable feature, as few cities in Europe have these characteristics.
A few figures
HEALTH
- 1,350 researchers
- 3 Billion € turnover generated by the companies
- ⅓ of healthcare startups are from BIC (Montpellier Business & Innovation Centre)
- The ICM is one of 8 French SIRIC (integrated cancer research sites)
> EUROBIOMED Center
AGRO
- 2,300 researchers and educators
- Nearly 700 coAgrompanies (agricultural and agro-innovative)
- The CGIAR chose to be based here
> AGRI SUD-OUEST INNOVATION Center
ENVIRONMENT
This very versatile sector has a worldwide reputation, particularly in the field of viticulture.
- UNESCO center in the field of water sciences with 400 scientists and 150 PhD students
> Centers DERBI et AQUAVALLEY
The rich fabric of companies is very diverse: made up of large groups as well as very small and medium-sized companies. Start-ups are supported by the BIC (Business & Innovation Centre), which has absolutely remarkable scores at the global level, particularly with companies more sustainable than elsewhere.
"The region supports this innovative project, of a very large scale and which has 3 characteristics: a great ambition with a globally attractive hub, a method which seems to guarantee success consisting in gathering and federating all the energies, mutualizing the skills and the means and finally which would make it possible to find a sovereignty. The Region knows that this is an important issue and is attentive to these subjects".
Patrice Canayer - Regional Councillor of Occitanie
A strategic decision for the territory with structuring projects
Currently, 60 projects have been identified and could potentially create more than a 1,000 jobs.
The Med Vallée will be served by the new tramway line 5, with an estimated 10% reduction in the use of individual vehicles.
Several ongoing projects support this decision:
- Expansion of the Euromedicine Biopôle - hosting HealthTech and GreenTech companies
- Converting Agropolis Museum - hosting AgriTech companies
- Autonomy and Health Unit - a platform of services and products in the field of technical and technological solutions for autonomy and ageing well at home
- Health innovation campus - to stimulate entrepreneurship and create a magnet for the transfer and valorization of innovations
The creation of a partnership financial fund will make it possible to finance these structuring projects resulting from the proposals of the Fabrik Med Vallée in the different themes.
"Med Vallée is one of these strategies at the national level that will allow France to ensure its rank. Everything is in place to create a world-class center of excellence. To help this project move forward, as prefect, I can put all the administrations in project mode by making them less bureaucratic and by strongly mobilizing resources - a section of the CPER (regional plan contract) is dedicated to Med Vallée to show the importance that the State attaches to this project”.
Hugues MOUTOUH - Prefect of the Hérault
Citizen Inclusion
Citizens and entrepreneurs are an integral part of the project. The ambition to become an exemplary eurocity in terms of health cannot be achieved by leaving out the people who live here. Citizens will be involved in the project through prevention, health information and education, and good living.
Concrete objectives
This project shouldn’t be yet another proposal that will never see the light of day. For this, tangible objectives are set:
- Shorten the circuits: the procedures must be accelerated. One of the solutions is to have a simultaneous appraisal between the Metropolitan area of Montpellier, Region and State. Therefore, when the official procedure arrives, the whole case has been examined and arbitrated (and the approval phase thus accelerated),
- Stimulate all energies for economic development,
- Rebalance all sectors, especially by facilitating communication between them.
Finally, Med Vallée also relies on the MUSE i-Site. The only university excellence label in the region, it mobilizes 16 institutions converging towards a common ambition: "to create in Montpellier a thematic research intensive university , internationally recognized for its impact in the fields of agriculture, environment and health".
The founders’ commitment pact will be signed very soon and from there, the project will enter its operational phase. This phase will take shape with the Fabrik Med Vallée around thematic workshops in which the economic actors will be able to collaborate:
- Synergies and collective intelligence: promote transversality through site visits, conferences, and information exchanges;
- ESRI: prioritization of research and teaching themes, cross-fertilization;
- Land and real estate: land and real estate development, transportation infrastructure, accessibility;
- Business creation and development: technology transfer, incubation, business support and financing;
- Talents: recruitment, training, employment (avoiding talent drain like Moderna Biontech and giving them the means to achieve their goals);
- National and international influence: attractiveness of the territory, promotion of economic actors and sectors;
- Citizenship: involve citizens in the field of prevention and good living to build an exemplary Global Health Metropolis.
IMAIOS is very pleased with this initiative which will further boost Montpellier's HealthTech.
If you would like to participate in one of the thematic workshops, you can contact the Fabrik at the following address: contact-medvallee@montpellier3m.fr
