Congrès Français d'Urologie (CFU) · 2026

Agoris analysis · updated October 2026

Key takeaways

• The Congrès Français d'Urologie (CFU, the French Urology Congress) is the annual congress of the Association Française d'Urologie (AFU), the learned society of French urologists. It is a four-day medical congress, paired with a professional exhibition where pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers and health start-ups hold stands in front of urologists.
• Next edition: the 120th Congrès Français d'Urologie, from Wednesday 18 to Saturday 21 November 2026, at the Palais des Congrès de Paris, across the whole of level 3. Nurses are welcomed from Tuesday 17 November for their own programme.
• Organiser: the Association Française d'Urologie, a 1901-law association founded in 1896 and recognised as being of public utility. General organisation, registrations and the exhibition are entrusted to the agency Colloquium, which publishes the congress website.
• Annual frequency, held every November in Paris. The 2020 edition took place entirely online because of the health situation.
• Results of the 2025 edition, published on the congress website: 3,771 participants, including 2,088 doctors, 381 nurses, 111 physiotherapists, 169 medical-administrative assistants and 501 speakers; 573 abstracts were submitted.
• On the exhibition side, the space is full for 2026: the partners page states that the floor plan is complete. The exhibitor list in the 2026 final programme has 70 entries: 59 companies, 8 start-ups and 3 associations.

Who exhibits

Typical profile

Urology is a medical-surgical specialty, and the exhibition reflects both sides of it. On one side, pharmaceutical companies, several of which organise symposiums in the programme; on the other, medical device manufacturers. The exhibitor list gives only names, stand numbers and links: the clinical themes of the programme (prostate, kidney and bladder cancers, overactive bladder, robot-assisted surgery, lithiasis) indicate the subjects covered, not what is on the stands.

The exhibition is organised around the two halls of level 3, Hall Havane and Hall Bordeaux, with an area dedicated to start-ups, an associations area, the Agora and a space named Maison de l'Urologie on the plan. The breaks in the scientific programme are labelled “PAUSE ET VISITE DES STANDS”: these slots, between two sessions, are the natural times to visit.

Notable exhibitors

The 2026 exhibitor list, published in the interactive final programme (October 2026) with stand numbers, brings together players from the pharmaceutical industry and the medical device sector.

Devices and equipment: Intuitive Surgical, CMR Surgical and Surgerii Robotics for robot-assisted surgery, Karl Storz Endoscopie, Olympus, Richard Wolf, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Coloplast, Cook Medical, Teleflex, Dornier MedTech, Rocamed, Laborie, Ambu, Focal One, Koelis and Duomed, GE Healthcare and Esaote. Pharmaceutical companies: AstraZeneca, Astellas, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Ipsen, Johnson & Johnson, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Pierre Fabre, Recordati, Menarini, Besins Healthcare, IBSA, Viatris, Accord Healthcare and Medac.

In 2026 the start-up area hosts Bowa, Curium, Flowtens, Imaxio, Oasis Medical Services, Prostperia, Samantree Medical and AIMED2. The associations area brings together the AFREPP, Medirisq and Parlons Pipi Sans Tabou. The partners page gives a similar 2026 list, with a few differences.

Visitor quality

The audience is that of an entire specialty, organised by profession. Medical specialists attend all four days. Nurses have their programme on 17 and 18 November, physiotherapists and medical-administrative assistants on Friday 20 November, and general practitioners have a dedicated, free session on Saturday 21 November. The in-person option for doctors, the general practitioners' session and the physiotherapists' and assistants' days include access to the exhibition; nurses have access on Wednesday 18 November; the replay option does not mention it. An exhibitor therefore sees different audiences file past depending on the day.

The AFU has 1,419 members as of April 2026, and the 2025 edition brought together 2,088 doctors. The congress is Qualiopi-certified and can be funded as continuing education, which also makes it a training event for hospital teams. Attendance figures are provided by the organiser, with no published third-party audit. The published breakdown does not cover the whole total.

Programme & community

Conference programme

The 2026 programme is split into plenary sessions and thematic tracks that can be identified in the synopsis: prostate, kidney and bladder cancers, andrology and sexology, lithiasis, infectious diseases, transplantation, paediatrics, incontinence, neuro-urology, BPH, courses, workshops, oral communications and videos. The Report of the 120th Congress, devoted to the risks of urology for the urologist, is presented on Saturday 21 November, followed by “L'Essentiel du 120e Congrès” and the closing session.

In 2026 the AFU hosts the Association des Urologues du Québec (AUQ), with a joint session. The congress is chaired by Jean-Luc Descotes. The official session takes place on Friday 20 November at 11:30am in the Bordeaux auditorium, with the presentation of the AFU research grants. On Thursday 19 November, an information day for patients, their companions and associations takes place from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the Hyatt hotel, Régency room.

The online programme and the programmes by profession are published. Sessions are available as replays 72 hours after the end of the congress, except for certain industry sessions, general assemblies, courses and oral communication and video sessions.

Symposiums and industry sessions

For an industry player, the lever is not limited to the stand. The programme reserves a section for “Symposia, Meet the Experts & Ateliers pratiques organisés par l'Industrie”: symposiums, meetings with experts and practical workshops, built into the official programme and held in the congress auditoriums and rooms.

A formula also exists for industry players without a stand: a badge at €1,000 gives access to the exhibition, the online platform and the replay. Pharmaceutical companies that fund the registration of doctors handle it directly.

Community & networks

The congress structures the life of the association: the general assembly of the AFU is held there, as are those of the Collège Français des Enseignants d'Urologie (CFEU), the Syndicat National des Chirurgiens Urologues Français (SNCUF) and the AFAMAU. Two evenings complete the programme: the Génération AFU evening on Thursday 19 November, open to participants according to the registration terms, and the members' dinner on Friday 20 November, reserved for AFU members.

On Sunday 22 November 2026, the day after the congress, the AFU organises the Novemb'Run, a charity run of 5 or 10 km starting from avenue Foch, in support of research into urological conditions.

On site: what you need to know

The congress occupies the whole of level 3 of the Palais des Congrès de Paris, 2 place de la Porte Maillot. The step-free entrance for people with reduced mobility is at 4 place de la Porte Maillot; level 3 is served by escalators and lifts from the level 0 reception.

Getting there: metro line 1 and RER C and E to Porte Maillot, tram T3b, buses 43, 73, 82, 244 and PC. By car, take the Porte Maillot exit from the boulevard périphérique and use the Indigo Porte Maillot car park; the organiser recommends public transport. There is a direct bus from Charles de Gaulle airport.

Reception hours: 7:30am to 7:00pm from Wednesday to Friday, 7:30am to 3:30pm on Saturday, and 9:00am to 6:00pm on Tuesday 17 November for nurses only. A badge is compulsory, with a colour code by profile: red for exhibitors. Minors are not admitted. A mobile app provides access to the programme, the exhibition plan and the abstracts.

Accommodation is handled by C'accommodation, the congress's hotel provider, and registrations through a training agreement must be made online by 25 October 2026 at the latest.

How much it costs to exhibit

As the 2026 plan is complete, no stand price list is published: requests go through the Become a partner page, which points to the other forms of participation. The only industry rate displayed: €1,000 for an industry badge without a stand.

Preparing your visit

For exhibitors

• Plan for the following edition: the 2026 plan showed as full more than a month before the congress, so spaces need to be booked well in advance.
• Time the stand highlights to the “PAUSE ET VISITE DES STANDS” breaks in the programme, and to the days of the target audiences: nurses on Wednesday, physiotherapists and assistants on Friday, general practitioners on Saturday.
• Consider the symposium or practical workshop format to reach urologists in the room, and not only in the aisles.
• The 2026 exhibition prize rewards the most eco-responsible stand: an argument to build in from the stand design stage.

For decision-making visitors

• Early-bird registration ended on 20 September at midnight: since 21 September, the in-person option has been at the higher rate (doctor who is a full or associate member of the AFU €280, doctor who is not a member €620). It includes access to the exhibition, to the Friday cocktail lunch and to the replay.
• Use the app to locate stands by number and plan your meetings.
• For a hospital department, go through the training agreement, before the deadline set by the organiser.

CSR policy & initiatives

The congress website has no commitments section and no ISO 20121 certification specific to the event. One concrete signal exists in 2026: the exhibition prize, presented at the closing session, rewards the most eco-responsible stand.

On the organiser's side, the AFU devotes a “Développement durable” (sustainable development) section to its professional practices, centred on the operating theatre and the practice: waste management in the operating theatre, the sustainable development manual, the Green cabinet approach. These are resources for the practice of urology, not a quantified commitment covering the congress.

The venue provides a complementary guarantee: the Palais des Congrès de Paris is operated by Viparis, the first events operator in the world to be ISO 20121 certified across all its sites, in 2014, and committed to its Better Events policy through to 2030.

How the trade show has evolved

Trajectory analysis

The CFU is now in its 120th edition, backed by an association founded in 1896. Its stability is remarkable: same city, same venue, same month, four days from Wednesday to Saturday, with the 2020 edition, held by videoconference, as the only exception.

Alongside the urologists, the 2026 programme offers days of its own for nurses, physiotherapists, medical-administrative assistants and general practitioners, a patients' day and an associations area. For an exhibitor, these audiences represent the prescriber, the care team and the downstream patient pathway in a single place.

The exhibition, for its part, is stable and full. The 2025 list had 72 entries, the 2026 list has 70, with a complete plan. The start-up area has eight companies in 2025 as in 2026 and is the dedicated entry point for young medtech urology companies.

The dates for the 2027 edition had not been announced at the time of writing.

All data without an explicit source comes from the organiser's website.

Unless otherwise stated, all factual data in this listing comes from the organiser's official website (cfu-congres.com).