Hello from Abu Dhabi, مرحبا من ابو ظبي,
During the Arab Health Exhibition, the biggest health fair in the Arab world that was held in Dubai earlier this month, Luxembourg was present for the fourth time with an impressive national pavilion that hosted five companies, with an additional Luxembourg company being part of the EU pavilion. Ai Mediq, B Medical Systems, ExoAtlet Global, Rotarex Meditec, Sci Parm and Arspectra showcased their contributions to health innovation and provided excellent examples of how new technologies made in Luxembourg can be game changers for delivering patients vital, life-saving and life-changing treatment.
Luxembourg is home to a burgeoning health technologies sector and attracts start-ups from across the globe. Digital solutions is a frequent common denominator, and healthtech companies benefit from the country’s excellent digital infrastructure and know-how. The development of the health technology sector is one of the pillars of Luxembourg’s economic diversification.
The relatively young healthtech sector – 50% of companies were incorporated less than 9 years ago – has experienced strong development over the past few years, while specializing in digital health, diagnostics, health data analytics and health wearables. The number of companies with a digital focus is constantly increasing.
The sector benefits from Luxembourg’s research expertise in health and biomedicine, built through considerable investments made over the past decades. The Luxembourg Centre of Systems Biomedicine, which is part of the University of Luxembourg, is very strong in terms of scientific progress and success, and the Luxembourg Institute of Health also has a solid international reputation. In 2021, Luxembourg created a Professorship in Digital Medicine, an interdisciplinary Chair to bring together the evidence generation and the digital transformation of healthcare via the tools of health economics, digital, medicine and human competencies.
In order to convert the country’s scientific excellence into technological innovation and to stimulate cooperation between researchers, innovative companies and hospitals, specific funding is provided through specific programmes like Fit 4 Innovation – HealthTech Market or the second Joint Call for HealthTech Projects which is open for applications until 31 March.
Recent investments have even seen the opening of dedicated facilities for soft-landing inbound healthtech businesses. The House of Biohealth, a hosting facility with office and lab space for both established companies and start-ups in the fields of digital and laboratory-based health products, hosts around 450 people working in areas such as diagnostics, medical devices and digital health. A health technologies business incubator located at the House of Biohealth offers 350 m2 of laboratory space to start-ups and spin-offs during their first 5 years of operation.
The Luxembourg government also recently announced that a future Health And Life science Innovation (HE:AL) Campus is expected to open its doors in 2024. The campus will be dedicated to digital health and personalised medicine, and will primarily target companies active in the fields of medical devices, in vitro diagnostics, and digital health tools and services. It will also be open to R&D, innovation and production activities, as well as to health technologies consulting and services. It will offer infrastructure to healthtech companies that want to set up offices in Luxembourg, thereby contributing to the development of key health technologies.
Jean-Marie Frentz
Executive Director, Luxembourg Trade & Investment Office