A region for high added value in biotech

• Specific skills in the field of natural ingredients and active compounds notably in the marine sector, where Bretagne has a unique concentration of marine biotech which is unique in Europe - but also in the agricultural sector. This wealth of skills has prompted the creation of a large number of technical centers for animal and plant production (Zoopole Développement, Végénov, etc.).

• A truly entrepreneurial culture
  The 150 companies located throughout Bretagne cover all types of biotech ("blue", "green", "yellow" and "red") in a diverse range of markets (human and animal health, crop protection, the environment, agrifood, cosmetics, etc.).

• A comprehensive, cross-sector knowledge chain

• Biotech-IT cross-fertilization : with over 40,000 jobs and constant growth in the proportion of high-level staff, the IT sector is increasingly turning towards biotech and favors cross-sector collaboration. Today, Bretagne is home to leading companies in this field, such as AES Chemunex.

• Research: Bretagne holds its own :
  

• France's 6th-ranked region for start-up creation
• France's 4th-ranked region for patent filing
• With more than 6900 public-sector researchers (4% of the headcount for the country as a whole), Bretagne is ranked 5th in France. 

This figure has risen strongly over the 5 years (+13%). In contrast to other regions of France (where public-sector research activity is concentrated in a few cities), Bretagne is characterized by its multicenter, distributed skills. There are four main areas across the region: Rennes, Brest/Quimper/Roscoff, Lorient/Vannes and Saint-Brieuc/Lannion. These locations are home to nearly all the French national research institute labs in the region (CNRS, INRA, INRIA, INSERM, IFREMER, AFSSA, CEMAGREF, MNHM and BRGM), together with four universities, several university institutes of technology and over twenty engineering schools and business schools.

• A highly qualified workforce

• With more than 100,000 students on degree-level courses, Bretagne accounts for 4.9% of the national figure and is France's 7th-ranked region.
• 62% of the students in higher education are registered at one of Bretagne's four universities: the University of Rennes I and the University of Rennes II (and their antennae in Saint-Brieuc), the University of Bretagne Occidentale (located in Brest, Quimper and Morlaix) and the University of Bretagne Sud (located in Vannes, Lorient and Pontivy).
• The UEB constitutes one of 9 regional higher education clusters created in March 2007. By combining the strengths of the region's universities, engineering colleges, business schools, medical centers and research organizations, the UEB is positioning itself as a internationally reputed research and teaching cluster. It has 21 members: Bretagne's 4 universities, 5 other higher education institutions and 12 associate members.