A pharmacy faculty will open in Nice in 2025 to address the shortage of pharmacists. This project, initiated in 2020, was confirmed after budgetary and political uncertainties.
Nice will host a pharmacy faculty starting in the 2025 academic year. This announcement was confirmed by the Minister of Higher Education. This project, which began in 2020, responds to a long-standing demand from industry professionals and local elected officials.
The new faculty will be integrated into the Université Côte d’Azur. Students will initially be spread across several sites before being grouped together. Each year, about forty students will be trained.
Raphaël Gigliotti, president of the pharmacists’ union of the Alpes-Maritimes, expressed his satisfaction to our colleagues at Nice Matin: “For us, this is really a five-year battle coming to fruition. We’ve been following this project since 2020 with the city council, which immediately understood that there was a demographic issue with medical and pharmaceutical professionals.”
The need for training is evident. In ten years, the number of pharmacies in the Alpes-Maritimes has decreased, falling from 464 in 2014 to 424 in 2024. The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, reminded that this training is “essential for our region and to meet the training needs of future pharmacists.”
A project that almost got canceled
The project faced uncertainties. The dissolution of the National Assembly and budgetary constraints delayed its completion. Christian Estrosi called on the government to maintain its commitments. In a letter to the Minister of Higher Education, he recalled that “the current ministry wants to reduce this funding,” emphasizing the necessity of quickly obtaining approval from the National Council for Higher Education and Research.
Richard Chemla, Deputy for Health, also advocated for this faculty. According to him, “We have the capability, we have the professors, we have the facilities.” He believes that the startup budget is modest and that only final approval was missing.
The opening of this pharmacy faculty in Nice will allow for local training of professionals and prevent students from having to go to Marseille. It’s a long-awaited advancement for the region and its pharmaceutical sector.