The National Agency for the Safety of Medicinal Products and Health Products (ANSM)

The National Agency for the Safety of Medicinal Products and Health Products (ANSM), which replaced the French agency for health safety and health products in 2012, has as its mission to assess their benefits and risks and to guarantee their safety continuously. In its mission of authorising clinical trials and placing medicinal products on the market, ANSM must consolidate its scientific influence in Europe, which also means reducing the number of protection committees. On its vigilance mission, ANSM would benefit from strengthening the health safety requirement for medical devices, and the resources devoted to cosmetics should be expanded. The relationship between the parent administrations and the Agency should be part of a renewed contractual framework. The transfer of funding to health insurance, decided in 2020, is expected to facilitate this development. Finally, in order to maintain citizens’ trust, the ANSM must continue its transparency efforts and strengthen its internal controls. The Court makes eight recommendations to this effect.