Over the past 15 years, Luxembourg has built an ecosystem where HealthTech companies can flourish and tailor their offering to the regulations of the EU market.
This year’s HealthIL Week conference organised by HealthIL, the healthcare innovation ecosystem in Israel, focused on reshaping a new healthcare reality. Despite the ongoing challenges since the tragic events of 7 October and the war in Israel, there were over 1,500 attendees at the conference. This shows that healthcare innovation has never been more vital and needs to continue to strive and push forward. “With 98% of medical records digitised, Israel offers the ideal environment for research and real-world evidence, and we must seize this unique moment in time to foster collaboration and advance science,” says Gila Tolub, former partner at McKinsey and Company and founder of Israel’s Collective Action for Resilience (ICAR).
Sector experts believe that the war has initiated a wave of new technological developments and advancement in Israel. Mrs Tolub says, “I imagine a nation that invests in the resilience of its people from birth, detects ‘invisible wounds’ early via innovative diagnostics tools, and aligns individuals with tailored solutions – a nation that provides personalised care to those impacted by trauma.”
HealthTech #NoMatterWhat panel at HealthIL Week 2024 (HealthIL)
In recent years, Israeli companies have been making efforts to make themselves more attractive to global markets. Operating in a small market, Israeli entrepreneurs understand the importance of scaling their businesses on a global level, tapping into larger markets, and reaching international partners and customers. “Israeli founders need to have a global perspective, to dive deep into customer discovery, to understand the value that their customers need,” says Sam Cronin, Principal & Investment Manager at Arkin Digital Health.
Embassy Representatives at HealthIL Week 2024 (HealthIL)
The Luxembourg Trade and Investment Office in Tel Aviv is supporting Israeli tech resilience and facilitates strong business connections between Israel and Luxembourg. “Israeli healthtech startups can quickly build out MVPs and clinical validation that can be potentially relevant to closing the gap between the supply and demand of healthcare services in Europe,” says Yoav Fisher, Head of Technical Innovation at HealthIL.
To nurture and help gain European market access for their digital medical devices, Luxembourg has developed a set of initiatives that address and answer specific company needs. The acceleration programme Fit 4 Start HealthTech helps start-ups align their operational plans with the regulatory requirements for their medical devices in the European market. Fit 4 Innovation HealthTech Market introduces start-ups and SMEs to the regulatory expertise needed to obtain CE marking for selling their medical devices in the EU.
A further programme, the Joint Call HealthTech, addresses companies’ need for clinical investigations to demonstrate the performance, safety, cost efficiency and patient benefits of their devices. The projects co-financed through the joint calls offer patients and healthcare professionals an opportunity to use and try new digital health innovations, and provide companies with precious insights into how their tools are received and performed.
Areal Impression of Luxembourg's future HE:AL Campus (A2M/EKKEKT)
Luxembourg is home to internationally renowned biomedical research centres, including the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) and the Luxembourg Institute of Health’s (LIH) precision medicine research centre. In the next few years, the dedicated healthtech facilities of the House of BioHealth, which offers over 17,000m2 of office and lab space to both established and start-up companies, will be considerably extended through the construction of the HE:AL Campus dedicated to health and life science innovation. Luxembourg’s future plans for growing the healthtech sector also include the creation of a medicine agency and a fund leveraging private investments in the field, as well as support for companies seeking to make their digital medical devices eligible for reimbursement.
Original article published by: CTECH
