Health Tech Scale-Ups in Germany

Operationalising the Innovation Partnership between Sweden and Germany

Swecare had the pleasure of supporting Socialdepartementet and eHälsomyndigheten with one of the workshops which took place during the Roundtable on the German-Swedish Partnership for Innovation in eHealth on Monday. Being able to use our vast and diverse network within the life-science ecosystem in Sweden to make sure that relevant interests are represented during such high-level discussions is one of our defining assets.

Ministers Lena Hallengren and Jens Spahn opened the Roundtable by stressing the need for cooperation between our two countries in order to maintain international competitiveness during these digital times. Both ministries were present in force leading the discussions of 54 participants during the course of the 4-hr afternoon meeting. The palpable commitment of all the public sector representatives, ranging from government officials, academic experts, to trade associations, during our the dialogue underline the scope of our engagement.

In the workshop on Digital Health Start Ups and Businesses, led by the charismatic Josefina Nungesser, Director of the Digital Hub Initiative at Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI), we discussed the new regulation passed by Germany allowing doctors to prescribe digital apps with health benefits which can then be reimbursed by the national health insurance system. From the Swedish side Swecare, IT&Telekomföretagen, HealthTech Nordic along with German counterparts from Bitkom, The Federal Ministry of Health, The Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, Charité, decided to organize a start up exchange during 2020. Targeting perhaps 10 new innovative companies ready to scale from each country, we will create a 2-day program, one day in each of our countries, where we will engage with key stakeholders in the scale-up journey:

1. Science and innovation parks
2. Test beds in or near university hospitals
3. Regulators
4. Potential investors

Get in touch if you are one of these new digital companies! Initiatives from the other groups will be communicated once we have the final report from the Roundtable.

At dinner after a long afternoon of discussions - graciously hosted by the The Federal Ministry of Health (BMG)

Photo Credit: Embassy of Sweden in Berlin

During our short trip to Berlin, Swecare, at the initiation of Business Sweden, also gave its larger member companies an opportunity to present their success stories and challenges in the German market to Minister Lena Hallengren, the Swedish Ambassador to Germany, and State Secretary Maja Fjaestad. Digital solutions for nursing homes and patient registries came up during these discussions and we hope to include these multi-nationals as we operationalise our partnership. The established companies have access to considerable resources - expertise, financing, network - that they are ready to share as we work towards common goals.