The Political Economy of Health in French Territory and the Globalized Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

Abstract

We approach the production of biomedicines in France as a productive spatial circuit. This circuit is part of the health-industrial complex (HIC), a concept that helps to explain the spatial and historical context to analyze the political economy of health care in France. Initially, we justify the use of the concept of the health-industrial complex, rather than the medical-industrial complex, as is commonly used in France and in Anglo-Saxon countries, and its relation to the political economy of health care. Then, we explain why the productive spatial circuit is more appropriate to a geographic approach of this industrial complex than the productive chain. Finally, we deal with the production of biomedicines and, more specifically, the importance of the Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) in the production of this technology to serve the major pharmaceutical laboratories, favoring the global production of this industrial branch.