Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament et des Produits de Santé (ANSM)^[1] superseded the tasks and duties of Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Produits de Santé (AFSSAPS) on 1 May 2012.^[2] It is responsible for assessing the benefits and risks associated with the use of health products throughout their life-cycle. ANSM assesses the safety, efficacy and quality of these products and must balance patient safety with access to novel therapies.

The Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des produits de santé (French Agency for the Safety of Health Products), often abbreviated AFSSAPS or AFSSaPS, was a French government institution whose main mission was to assess health risks posed by health products intended for human consumption, particularly pharmaceutical drugs. It was responsible for issuing permits for marketing approval and became the single authority in the regulation of biomedical research.

The agency was latest headed by Dominique Maraninchi and had about 1,000 employees plus 2,000 experts. Its budget amounts to approximately 157 million euros, with the bulk of revenue came from taxes and charges levied on the activity of the pharmaceutical industry.

The Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament et des Produits de Santé (ANSM), superseded the tasks and duties of the AFSSAPS on 1 May 2012.^[3]