Nice, December 3, 2024 – Nice University Hospital (CHU de Nice) and the Eurobiomed competitiveness cluster announce the government's selection of the Skin Experimental Hub, supported by the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur region and its regional health agency, as part of France 2030.
This validation, announced during the National Digital Health Innovation Day in Issy-les-Moulineaux, marks a major advancement for the management of skin conditions. The entire Experimental Hub program is endowed with €63 million, allocated over the 5 years covered by the Call for Proposals (2023-2027) and is funded by the state as part of the national Digital Health acceleration strategy of the France 2030 plan.
An alarming observation justifies this project: over 20 million French citizens suffer from at least one skin disease, among the 6,500 pathologies identified by the French Society of Dermatology. Currently,the average waiting time to consult a dermatologist is three months, and this delay is often significantly longer in certain regions, leading nearly one in two French individuals (46%) to forgo treatment. In light of this situation, new technologies offer a promising solution to improve the early detection and treatment of these diseases.
Deployment in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Corsica regions
The Skin Experimental Hub is an innovative program where healthcare professionals, companies, researchers, and patient associations collaborate to test and validate new digital solutions in dermatology. Deployed in the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur and Corsica regions, it plans to include up to 6,000 patients for the initial experimental projects. The solutions developed will notably allow for the analysis of various types of medical images to facilitate patient diagnosis and monitoring. The project will find its permanent home in the future Skin Institute, a physical location set to open in Nice in several years.
« This experimental hub represents a unique opportunity to significantly improve the management of skin diseases », states Professor Thierry Passeron, Head of the Dermatology Department at Nice University Hospital (CHU de Nice) and project leader. « By combining medical expertise and digital technologies, we will be able to offer faster and more accurate diagnoses, without invasive procedures. These technologies should also improve access to dermatological diagnosis and care. This represents a major advancement, particularly for patients living in areas where access to dermatologists is challenging. »
« The Skin experimental hub perfectly illustrates our mission to unite and support major public-private projects in the region, which accelerate tomorrow's health innovations », emphasizes Emilie Royère, General Director of Eurobiomed. « We invite all stakeholders to Antibes in April 2025 for the first Skin Summit, which will bring together experts and innovators to discuss the latest advancements in dermatology. »
Partners of the Skin Experimental Hub
Supporters of the Skin Experimental Hub
