A Bitter Pill for Lab Firms as France Seeks to Cut Subsidies

A report by a French agency is ringing alarm bells for investors and creditors who poured billions of euros into the medical labs sector.

Empty vials sit in a rack inside the Unilabs Eylau coronavirus research and serology testing labs in the Neuilly-sur-Seine district of Paris, France, on Thursday, April 30, 2020. Deaths in France linked to the coronavirus rose at the slowest pace in four days on Thursday, with the country reporting fewer than 300 fatalities for the second time this month.Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg

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By Giulia Morpurgo

August 9, 2025 at 3:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Welcome to The Brink. I’m Giulia Morpurgo, a reporter in London, where I have been looking into the headwinds that French private medical labs face. We also have the latest on bankrupt retailer Claire’s, Altice Portugal’s reorganization and Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy. Follow this link to subscribe. Send us feedback and tips at debtnews@bloomberg.net.

It’s an industry that’s grown fat on public subsidies — and now the government is looking to pull them away. A report by a French agency is ringing alarm bells for investors and creditors who poured billions of euros into the medical labs sector.