Credit: Luxinnovation
On Tuesday afternoon, the Luxembourg HealthTech Cluster and the Ministry of the Economy held their annual event for the Grand Duchy's HealthTech sector for the third consecutive year.
Organised in a digital format by the Luxembourg HealthTech Cluster, managed by Luxinnovation, and the Ministry of the Economy, the event "Overcoming COVID-19: The response of the Luxembourg HealthTech sector" brought together around 100 representatives of the health technology sector. It provided an opportunity to take stock of the development of this key sector of the national economy, particularly in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
Luxembourg's Minister of the Economy, Franz Fayot, highlighter the importance of the sector in the country's economic diversification policy and announced the advent of a future financing mechanism favouring public-private partnerships in the medical sector. At the opening of the conference, he stated: "The HealthTech sector was chosen by the government about ten years ago as one of the priority sectors to diversify our economy. It is still young and characterised by a high number of small companies. Among the companies established in Luxembourg, we have some hidden champions, with unique expertise who are renowned beyond our borders".
According to the data from the latest sector mapping updated on the occasion of this event, the Luxembourg's HealthTech sector encompasses 136 private companies which employed nearly 1,880 people in 2020. These data, which are the result of a collaboration between the Ministry of the Economy, the HealthTech Cluster and the "Market Intelligence" department of Luxinnovation, can now be consulted on the Luxembourg HealthTech Cluster website, where it will be updated several times a year.
During the conference, six companies also explained how they have had to adapt their business models or even reinvent themselves in order to improve their resilience and strengthen their long-term sustainability. They did this notably by investing in the digitalisation of their activities and through product and / or service innovation.
Like other companies in the sector, they received support through various public aid mechanisms, the range of which will soon be extended. Minister Franz Fayot confirmed: "A new funding mechanism, favouring public-private partnerships for the medical sector, will soon be announced". This new mechanism will be unveiled on 1 April 2021.
Within the national innovation and research agency, Luxinnovation, the Luxembourg HealthTech Cluster's primary mission is to bring together companies from the medical technology, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostics and health industries and to support them in order to meet the multidimensional challenges of the sector.
"At Luxinnovation, we are very proud to have been able to support companies that have innovated to face this crisis. However, we are aware that there is still a lot to be done, including in the short term," said Jean-Philippe Arié, Manager of the Luxembourg HealthTech Cluster. "In a sector characterised by a great diversity of hyper-specialised players, the implementation of broad and sometimes unexpected collaborations is a daily challenge. However, these partnerships accelerate the market launch of innovative solutions. Our role, as an innovation agency, is to be a leading player in these relationships, both in the context of this crisis and in the longer term".
