The main topics covered by the survey are as follows :
• Assessment of the degree of integration into the value chain;
• Characterization of companies’ roles within the value chain;
• Analysis of research and innovation activities;
• Analysis of economic activity and production conditions;
• Structure of the supply chain and assessment of dependencies;
• Measurement of offshoring, reshoring and investment trends;
• Adaptation to environmental challenges;
• Diversification of activities, financial support and development prospects.

The survey uses the French Classification of Activities 2025 (NAF 2025).

The sectoral scope of the pharmaceutical value chain covers around fifty sectors of the 2025 NAF classification, grouped into two main categories:
• The « core »: it includes the two sectors of the pharmaceutical industry: manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products (21.10Y) and manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations (21.20Y). Units operating within these sectors are considered to belong to the value chain, except in specific cases (for example, the manufacture of medical devices, cosmetics or para-pharmaceutical products).
• The « potential » group: it includes sectors likely to participate in the pharmaceutical value chain, although units operating within these sectors do not systematically belong to the value chain. This scope notably includes biotechnology research and development (72.10G), manufacture of industrial gases (20.11Y), manufacture of other basic organic chemicals (20.14Y), and wholesale trade of pharmaceutical and medical goods (46.46Y).

According to the French Public Health Code, a medicinal product is defined as any substance or combination of substances presented as having curative or preventive properties with respect to human or animal diseases, as well as any substance or combination of substances that may be administered for the purpose of establishing a medical diagnosis or restoring, correcting or modifying physiological functions by exerting a pharmacological, immunological or metabolic action.
Medicinal products may include chemically synthesized medicines and/or biological medicinal products derived from living organisms.

Legal unit

The survey covers legal units whose activities contribute, even marginally, to the design, development, production, quality control, marketing authorization, or wholesale distribution of human or veterinary medicinal products. These units are mainly organized around four major areas:
• Pharmaceutical operations : quality assurance, regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, marketing authorizations, commercial strategy, information and promotion, pharmaceutical trading activities, wholesale distribution, and logistics (storage and transport).
• Research and development : discovery and development of molecules and medicines, biotechnology, preclinical and clinical trials, pharmaceutical development, and manufacturing of clinical batches.
• Industrial production and manufacture of pharmaceutical inputs : manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), synthesis intermediates, excipients and medicines, formulation, quality control, and primary and secondary packaging.
• Manufacture of equipment goods for the pharmaceutical industry : design and manufacture of production equipment (bioreactors, centrifuges, purification systems, etc.).

Medical devices, as well as healthcare and retail dispensing activities, are excluded from the scope of the survey (e.g. bandages, prostheses, medical imaging devices, medical procedures, retail dispensing of medicines in pharmacies). However, magistral and officinal preparations are included within the scope of the survey.

Year 2025, except for specific question