Strong Pulse of the Healthcare Industry
The health industry is one of Düsseldorf's most important sectors – with a great capacity for innovation. In order to exploit this potential in the future, digital solutions are particularly in demand. And an efficient and fast transfer of science and business.
Increasing health awareness, an ageing society and medical-technical progress make the health industry an employment and turnover driver in Germany that is independent of the economy – by the way, far more important than the automotive industry. In addition to the classic “primary health market”, which includes hospitals and pharmacies and is largely financed by statutory and private health and long-term care insurances, a privately financed “secondary health market” has been growing for some years: this includes, for example, providers in the areas of wellness or health tourism. According to IT-NRW statistics, the economic output of this mega-market in Germany's most populous state rose from 44.5 billion euros (8.6 per cent of total output) in 2008 to 63.4 billion euros (10 per cent) in 2018. In pandemic times, the picture is now more differentiated: While on the one hand, for example, manufacturers of vaccines, diagnostic tests and protective equipment were able to increase their sales, on the other hand, operations were postponed or supply chains of medical products were severely disrupted. Thus, COVID-19 has also infected the healthcare industry – and further pushed the search for smart and resilient solutions.
Düsseldorf is a good location for such new solutions. Around 70,000 employees generate around three billion euros annually in the industry here and in the district of Mettmann. “The mix of established companies, innovative start-ups, the Heinrich Heine University and the University Hospital, numerous other research institutions as well as some resident associations and committed municipal players forms the basis for a strong health industry. It also offers an attractive platform for skilled workers,” explains Friederike Helle, Health Industry Officer at the Düsseldorf Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK). For example, Düsseldorf is home to the Cluster Medizin.NRW, a platform of expertise for innovative medicine, the NRW Hospital Association, the Leibniz Institute for Environmental Medicine Research IUF and the German Diabetes Centre DDZ (Leibniz Centre for Diabetes Research. As the voice of the fast-growing biotechnology sector, two associations are active locally: BIO.NRW and BioRiver. The city also gains international importance through many trade events, above all the leading international trade fair MEDICA (see info box).
“The healthcare industry still has enormous potential, especially in the development of digital solutions. At the same time, it is still heavily regulated in Germany. This has many sensible reasons, such as data protection, but can also be an obstacle to innovation and hinder start-ups in particular. The future challenge will be to find an intelligent balance here in order to remain competitive and, above all, to further accelerate the transfer of science into the economy,” says Helle.
Hardly anyone will be in a better position to judge the development of this transfer in the last four decades at the Düsseldorf location than Professor Dr. Dr. Detlev Riesner. The internationally renowned and multi-award-winning biophysicist founded Diagen at the university in the mid-1980s together with three doctoral students Karsten Henco, Metin Colpan and Jürgen Schumacher, which later became Qiagen. The listed company, now based in Hilden, is today the world market leader in the field of molecular diagnostics. “The founding period of Qiagen was characterised by a general spirit of optimism and freedom in biotechnology,” recalls the still active 80-year-old. In the 1990s, under the then Lord Mayor Joachim Erwin, the LifeScience Center (see box) was built and the Düsseldorf Innovation and Science Agency DIWA was founded. “The fact that the city and the university jointly created a structure for this transfer activity was considered a nationwide role model at the time.” In Riesner's view, Düsseldorf politics tended to focus on ICT in recent years, but the scientist and entrepreneur is pleased that resources have recently been shifting more strongly towards the life sciences.
The relevance of biotechnology and life sciences within the health industry is particularly evident in the current phase of the battle against the pandemic. Professor Riesner's “baby” Qiagen has also been able to record enormous increases in orders thanks to COVID-19. “There are many companies that have developed diagnostic methods, but we are still the ones that can purify viral RNA best today,” he says proudly. Over the years, he has been involved in founding several other biotech companies that are also connected to HHU - Evotec or New Lab, for example. To “give something back” to science, he supports the university with funds from his own foundation. Since July 2018, a building at HHU also bears his name: The “Riesner Building” houses the Biological Medical Research Centre and the CEPLAS Cluster of Excellence for Plant Sciences.
Life Science Center
The Life Science Center is a technology and start-up centre in Düsseldorf-Bilk that offers innovative companies and start-ups office and laboratory space up to safety standard S2 on a total area of around 21,000 m². More than 50 companies are currently based there. In addition to the life sciences (biotechnology, bioinformatics, biomedicine and medical technology), the thematic focus is also on related technology areas such as materials technology or nanotechnology. The cooperation of the Life Science Centre with the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and the University Hospital Düsseldorf offers additional synergies in the implementation of innovative projects.
In terms of digitalisation, the healthcare industry has picked up speed in recent years – and this has been accelerated once again thanks to COVID-19: Apps on prescription or telemedical consultations, for example, have also enabled healthcare “at a distance”. “It's not just about presenting existing structures digitally, but also about using the opportunities of digitalisation to think in a completely new way,” emphasises Friederike Helle. One of many fine Düsseldorf examples is the start-up Cureosity, on the market since February 2021: a virtual reality-based therapy system that people can use to train and rehabilitate their cognitive, sensory and motor skills. Self-learning, AI-based technologies and the networked Internet of Things, for example, could save enormous costs, Helle is certain. And, of course, valuable time, so that medical and nursing professionals can once again concentrate more on what is most important: the patients.
Even though it seems that 99 per cent of the public health debate in recent months has revolved around COVID-19, the medical community has continued to conduct intensive research into other diseases. Despite the worldwide pandemic, the major common diseases in particular must not be lost from view: Heart disease, cancer, COPD, diabetes, depression – or even neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease. Research into the latter is a major concern for Professor Riesner, which he also supports: “We are very well positioned in this area at the university, especially in biology. I am very optimistic that something will happen again in Düsseldorf.” •
RehaCare
World's largest trade fair for rehabilitation and
care at Messe DüsseldorfFigures for 2019: 38,600 visitors, 751 exhibitors from 43 countries
Products and services for people with disabilities, with care needs, in old age and with chronic diseases
2020 postponed due to pandemic, next date:
6 to 9 October 2021 in Düsseldorf
A+A
World's largest event for safety and health at work
Figures for 2019: 2,111 exhibitors from 61 nations, over 73,000 trade visitors (one in two of them
from abroad)Products and services for personal protection
(incl. corporate fashion), occupational safety
and health at work.Next date in Düsseldorf: 26 to 29 October 2021
Tomorrow’s healthcare market meets here
Düsseldorf is the location of some of the world's leading health trade fairs. In addition to the flagship MEDICA, these include COMPAMED, REHACARE and A+A – an overview.
Since 1969 it has been a permanent fixture in the calendar of all international experts who want to help shape and experience the healthcare industry. Current focal themes / segments of the world's leading trade fair are medical technology, IT systems and IT solutions, laboratory technology / diagnostics, physiotherapy / orthopaedic technology and consumer goods. Together with COMPAMED, the world's leading trade fair for medical technology suppliers, a new record attendance was recorded in 2019, when both trade fairs were held in parallel: 5,500 exhibitors at MEDICA and almost 800 at COMPAMED - from over 50 countries; of the 121,000 trade visitors on four days of the trade fair, around two thirds came from abroad – from a total of around 170 nations.
MEDICA und compamed: the largest event for the medical sector worldwide
Due to the pandemic, MEDICA and COMPAMED were held completely virtually from 16 - 19 November 2020. Despite a very short registration phase, a total of more than 1,500 exhibitors from 63 nations presented themselves to the healthcare community with their online showrooms, a variety of a good 18,300 new products and a live programme in over 100 web sessions (with up to 300 participants at peak times). And the community showed lively and numerous interest: About 45,000 trade visitors (unique users) from 169 nations took advantage of the virtual offers and generated 405,000 page impressions. The proportion of international online visitors was 78 percent.
Date of the next MEDICA and COMPAMED:
15 to 18 November 2021.
Words: Tom Corrinth
Pictures: PR, Messe Düsseldorf / ctillmann