- Team Nice Côte d’Azur will attend BioTechX Europe from October 6-8, 2026 in Basel, an international gathering that brings together decision-makers, speakers and exhibitors around diagnostics, precision medicine and genomics.
- Sana Bouyahia, Head of Project Development – Health & Sports, will represent the agency to identify international companies looking to set up in Europe.
- The Côte d’Azur biotech ecosystem keeps notching up milestones, driven notably by DimiCare, Roca Therapeutics, Nicox and Ariah.bio.
- A mission that fits within Team Nice Côte d’Azur’s ongoing presence at major international life sciences events.
Basel, the next stop in an international presence
From October 6 to 8, 2026, Team Nice Côte d’Azur will be at BioTechX Europe, at the Messe Basel. The event, organised by Terrapinn, brings together more than 3,000 decision-makers, 400 speakers and 150 exhibitors. Drug discovery, clinical trials, R&D, data science: the show connects every vertical of the biotech and pharmaceutical ecosystem. Novartis, Roche and Sanofi sit alongside Bayer, Novo Nordisk and Boehringer Ingelheim.
Sana Bouyahia, Head of Project Development – Health & Sports, will represent the agency for B2B meetings with international decision-makers, investors and companies, with one goal: identify biotech and pharma businesses looking for a European foothold, and position the Côte d’Azur as that setup location.
Four trajectories, one shared ground
DimiCare grew out of Inserm, CNRS and Université Côte d’Azur. Led by Juan A. Garcia-Sanchez, PhD, the company develops therapeutic strategies against resistant infections, with two flagship programmes: DCB-002, targeting Bacillus anthracis, the anthrax pathogen, backed by Inserm and PULSALYS through the CATRIEM scheme, and a programme against Staphylococcus infections. Winner of the i-Lab 2025 competition, then of the Pépite France award in November 2025, the company joined the Provence-Côte d’Azur Business Incubator in 2026.
Roca Therapeutics was co-founded in 2021 by researchers from Université Côte d’Azur, Cyril Ronco and Rachid Benhida at ICN, Gilles Pagès and Maeva Dufies at IRCAN, Stéphanie Baillif at Nice University Hospital, alongside Landmark BioVentures. The biotech develops small molecules for severe ocular diseases. It secured from the EMA the first-ever recognition of radiation maculopathy as a distinct indication, along with orphan drug designation, for its lead candidate RCT002. First-in-human trials are planned for 2026.
Nicox, based in Sophia Antipolis, has just crossed a regulatory milestone for NCX 470, its glaucoma treatment. The new drug application is now accepted for review in the United States, where the FDA has set a PDUFA date of April 30, 2027, and in China, through its partner OcuMension Therapeutics. US partner Kowa Pharmaceuticals America anticipates a commercial launch in the second half of 2027, pending approval.
Ariah.bio, formerly AMK Biotech, was founded by Aïda Meghraoui and is based at the Bioparc in Sophia Antipolis. The lab analyses biological tissue through multiplex imaging, at the crossroads of histology, immunology and oncology. Its HighPlex Imaging technology visualises more than 40 biological targets on a single tissue section. L’Oréal Advanced Research has partnered with the company to explore skin biology.
A foundation of research and infrastructure
The Côte d’Azur health ecosystem logged several advances in 2026. Caranx Medical, based in Nice and now part of Carvolix, secured the world’s first FDA authorisation for an AI software guiding real-time cardiac valve implantation. Its US commercialisation is under way, backed by Truffle Capital and Edwards Lifesciences.
On the clinical research side, three milestones followed one another: the founding agreement of AZUR, a territorial entity signed at the end of March by Nice University Hospital and Cannes Hospital to increase the number of clinical trials; the May opening of the SKIN Experimentation Third Place, to test AI-based dermatological diagnostic tools; and the continuation of the France 2030 national programmes IHU RespirERA and RHU ReBone.
This foundation rests on precise figures: 920 publications a year, 28 active patents, for Nice University Hospital alone. Alongside it, 3IA Côte d’Azur brings its AI expertise, working with Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS and Inserm.
The Eurobiomed cluster completes the picture: €250 million mobilised for its members in the first half of 2026, of which more than 60% was captured by biotechs, and a SKIN Excellence cluster bringing together more than 80 players.
Attending BioTechX? Contact Sana Bouyahia to arrange a meeting on site.
