Key data

Source : Biotech Santé Bretagne

3 rd region in France for healthtech

2 major university-hospitals creating over 15,000 jobs

13.300 researchers

55 research teams in the health sector

200 public and private healthcare institutions

140 companies specialized in medical technologies for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes

110 e-health companies

Why Choose Bretagne

A region of excellence in digital health and MedTech

Bretagne stands out as a major innovation hub, recognized for its expertise.

  • E-health: telemedecine, connected devices, AI, big data, autonomy support, data security
  • Medtech: diagnostic and interventional medical imaging, medical devices, computer-assisted surgery and medicine

Access of an interactive map of key Breton players in the health industry here.

A rich and interoperable ecosystem

Close to 500 Breton stakeholders are actively shaping the healthcare of tomorrow, including the University Hospital of Rennes (ranked amongst the best in France) and of Brest, leading care institutions in medical research, and cutting-edge private hospitals such as CHP de Saint Grégoire (Groupe Vivalto), one of the top private clinics in France.
Bretagne is also home to a clinical investigation center (CIC-IT), and a hospital-university federation, both dedicated to healthcare technologies.

An agile testing ground

Digital health experimentation hubs (INH Lab, JINNOV, W.INN), living labs, innovation units within healthcare facilities, CESIM Santé, and other key innovation centers provide researchers, industry partners, academic institutions, and public stakeholders with opportunities to test technologies, services, and products in real-life conditions, assess potential uses, and evaluate user acceptance within target populations.

Strong synergies between the digital and medical sectors

Breton digital innovations and transitions directly benefit the healthcare sector.
Whether in data hosting and management or interoperability, the technologies developed in Bretagne are applied across various medical specialties: disability (Handicap Innovation Territoire, INH Lab), interoperability, cardiology (rhythmology), neurology, ophtalmology, and orthopedics.

Secure and local data hosting

Bretagne hosts Europe’s leading network of connected clinical data warehouses (Ouest DataHub), and numerous HDS-certified providers: Blue, Numih France, Asten Group, Claranet, as well as the Rennes University Hospital, one of the first hospitals in France to receive certification.
This digital transition is rooted in Bretagne’s longstanding expertise in cybersecurity.

Facilitated business setup

Bretagne offers a robust industrial network that makes it easier to establish new projects.
The region benefits from a wide network of industrial subcontractors, covering everything from prototyping to mass production in fields such as electronics, mechatronics, robotics, plastics, photonics and more.

Bridging European connections and regional dynamism

In addition to hospital-university research projects (RHU FollowKnee et RHU PRIMUS), the Rennes University Hospital and BioTech Santé Bretagne are involved in European projects (TEF-Health, ACE, et DigiH4A), highlighting the region’s strong commitment to developing innovative solutions and fostering experimentation.

Our talents :
Training, research, innovation

Bretagne ranks as France’s second-leading region for digital R&D and is home to over 13,000 researchers. Bretagne also holds the position of second-leading region for engineering education in telecommunications.

  • Bretagne welcomes more than 9,000 students each year, including 1,500 graduates in the digital sector, in its top engineering schools. The Rennes and Brest University Hospitals, the EHESP, the faculties of medecine in Rennes and Brest, as well as the faculties of dentistry, pharmacy, and biological sciences, together with around 15 nursing schools (IFSI), train highly qualified healthcare professionals every year.
  • Inria, IRISA, Lab-STICC (CNRS), LaTIM (Medical Information Processing Laboratory) and LTSI (Signal and Image Processing Laboratory) are key research players in the field of digital science and technology applied to healthcare.
  • In addition, many organizations support companies in their innovation efforts:
    • Support for innovation and collaborative research and innovation projects: Atlanpole Biotherapies, b<>com, Biotech Santé Bretagne, Images & Réseaux
    • Technology platforms and technology transfer: Biogenouest network, Ouest Valorisation, and various imaging platforms
    • Research resources available to companies: CIC-IT of Rennes (Clinical Investigation Center – Technical Innovation), FHU-TECHSAN (Hospital-University Federation for Innovative Health Technologies).
    • The e-health resource and expertise center Catel drives innovation in the e-health ecosystem by bringing together all stakeholders: national authorities, frontline professionals, researchers, professional organizations, companies and patients.
    • The CoWork’Hit innovation, expertise, and resource center supports health stakeholders in disability-focused innovation, concentrating on strategic areas such as assistive technologies (home automation, digital assistants), accessibility, adaptive sports, and digital fabrication.

For more details, an interactive map of key players is available here.

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Success stories

Hillrom

A world-class multi-skilled centre in Medtech in Pluvigner

Lumibird

One of the world's leading laser specialists

Imascap

Innovation in orthopaedic surgery

b<>com

Technological innovations recognised worldwide
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