Top Sector Life Sciences & Health
Health~Holland goes international
Under the flag of Health~Holland, the Top Sector LSH had a busy international year with a wide variety of international visits. This overview illustrates a selection of the international conventions, missions, and events. Or watch the video "Why the Netherlands?"
Why the Netherlands?
Focus country
Belgium
Flanders and the Netherlands join forces in the area of Personalised Medicine
During the Flemish-Dutch political top meeting on 5 November in Middelburg, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by state secretary Mona Keijzer from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and Secretary-General Johan Hanssens on behalf of Minister Muyters from the Flemish Department of Economic, Science and Innovation in the area of Personalised Medicine. This MoU strengthens the collaboration between Flanders and the Netherlands on this theme for the next five years.
Flanders and the Netherlands already collaborate successfully on regenerative medicine, through a public-private partnership called Regenerative Medicine Crossing Borders (RegMed XB). An extension of the collaboration between them on a broad scale of subjects in the area of personalised medicine is the next logical step. The MoU signed on 5 November will increase collaboration on mission-driven research and development, innovation and entrepreneurship in the area of personalised medicine during the next five years. With the MoU Flanders and the Netherlands aim to consolidate the strengths of both private and public parties across the borders.
The signing of the MoU took place in the presence of Minister President Rutte and his Flemish counterpart Bourgeois and will be continued in the spring of 2019 by a research agenda. The agenda will contain at least the existing subtheme regenerative medicine but also the additional subthemes: cell-based technologies; prevention and lifestyle medicine; personal data infrastructure and management. The Flanders and the Netherlands now have a common agenda in which the ambitions are noted for groundbreaking technologies like Organ-on-a-Chip and data FAIR principles. By consolidating strengths across the borders, new combinations of expertise and technology are brought together that can be scaled up and made available for large groups of patients.
The Top Sector Life Sciences & Health will work on the programme and research agenda together with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, the Flemish Department of Economic, Science and Innovation and involved stakeholders over the next few months.
Read the latest news on RegMed XB: Who now accelerates the development of therapies for four chronic diseases instead of three.
China
A mission to China: the largest trade mission of Prime Minister Rutte ever
When they came together in a huge ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton in the South China city of Guangzhou, the Dutch trade delegation was so big this time that they hardly fitted together on a group photo. 'It is the biggest trade mission that I have ever led as prime minister,' says Mark Rutte. 'At the trade dinner tonight, we will welcome six hundred guests. It is really huge.'
It is the biggest trade mission that I have ever led as prime minister.
Prime Minister Rutte
From the 9 to 14 April 2018 the Dutch Embassy in Beijing, theDutchConsulate in Guangzhou, the Dutch Consulate in Chongqing, NBSO Chengdu, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the Task Force Health Care organised a Life Sciences & Health (LSH) programme as part of the economic trade mission to China.
In total, 29 organisations and institutions, ranging from innovative product developers to universities and even clinics and inbound medical travel organisations participated in the LSH programme. Led by Minister for Medical Care and Sport,Bruno Bruins, the Dutch delegation enjoyed a five-day programme throughout China. A large number of field visits and seminars in Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu provided excellent opportunities to meet new relevant business contacts, learn more about the Chinese LSH sector and foster Chinese-Dutch partnerships.
The presence of Dutch and Chinese high-level representatives also provided an excellent opportunity for some participating companies and organisations to sign agreements with their Chinese counterparts. TFHC Partner Ziuz Medical for example,has signed a distribution agreement for China with DIH Technologies Co. DIH is a strong partner for them with an impressive track record in pharmacy automation in China. Together ZiuZ and DIH will help to make medicine dispensing in China safer and more efficient.
Another example is Maastro Clinic, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Chinese counterpart for the training of medical specialists and staff in radiotherapy. The high level of knowledge and expertise of MAASTRO medical specialists and years of experience in training radiotherapist oncologists, clinical physicists and radiotherapeutic laboratory technicians are reasons for the Chinese to choose MAASTRO as a training institute.
Many opportunities for Sino-Dutch cooperation in the field of LSH are being sown and harvested in these fruitful times, with China being a focus country for the Top Sector LSH and another health delegation (elderly care) already flying out to China at the beginning of May.
Colombia
Economic Mission to one of the fastest growing healthcare systems in South America
The Life Sciences and Health (LSH) track to Cali & Bogota (Colombia) was led by Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports Erik Gerritsen. It took place from 25 to 29 November and was part of the Economic Mission led by Prime Minister Rutte.
Colombia and the Netherlands are no strangers, and the Netherlands has a warm and active relationship with policymakers and decision-makers in the Colombian health sector. Over 25 organisations from the Kingdom of the Netherlands participated in the highly interactive healthcare track with hospital visits, seminars and an overflow of matchmaking appointments.
After the kick-off meeting and an informal meet & greet with Secretary General Erik Gerritsen, the LSH delegation visited the high-tech Valle de Lili University Hospital (third best hospital in Latin America according to the ranking of AméricaEconomía magazine) in Cali where they were given a tour of the diagnostics, trauma and integrated medical centre.
Despite the expansion of high-quality private hospitals and the growing healthcare system, Colombia has remote and scattered areas with worrying health indicators. The country is, therefore, striving to increase quality health services to rural health areas with projects such as MIAS. On the second day of the mission, the LSH delegation visited the Hospital Raul Orejuela Bueno Palmira rural health post where they listened to a presentation about the successful MIAS project. The Comprehensive Health Care Model (MIAS) is reported to have made historic improvements in health indicators in the province of Guania, such as access to health services increasing from 17% to 79% and zero maternal death. This model can be replicated in other regions of Colombia according to Public Hearing on the Implementation of MIAS.
After the visit to Hospital Raul Orejuela Bueno Palmira, the LSH delegation had a meeting to discuss potential collaboration opportunities with Mr Sarmiento Angulo's team at the state-of-the-art Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo Cancer Treatment and Research Center. Mr Sarmiento Angulo is considered to be one of Colombia’s most prudent and wealthiest entrepreneurs. His Cancer Treatment and Research Center is promised to have approximately 280 beds and will be opened in 2021.
The final day of the mission in Bogotá was quite memorable as almost all 160 participants attended the interministerial dialogue on the subject of “Strategies to Improve Health Sector Quality“ with Dutch Secretary-General Erik Gerritsen and Colombian Vice Minister Mr Iván Gonzalez.
The successful economic mission included great interaction, inspiration and networking opportunities.
We established a large number of contacts and of course connecting with people is one of the key things during missions.
Bart Scheerder, UMCG
Germany
eHealth and elderly care mission to Rhineland Palatinate and Saarland with a royal touch
The Dutch business delegation was formed by 25 organisations who were eager to learn more about the two German states and to network during the mission that took place from 10 to 12 October.
One of the German states, Rhineland-Palatinate launched the "Gesundheit & Pflege 2020" programme aimed at connecting outpatient and inpatient care. The biggest challenges include demographic changes (ageing), securing good care, maintaining small rural hospitals and safely using eHealth. Naturally, there was a well-balanced mix of innovative Dutch eHealth and elderly care organisations in the business delegation, such as Active Cues, Sensara, Zo-Dichtbij and VANAD Group, who were all keen to present their smart solutions.
The mission was particularly special due to the presence of Minister Sigrid Kraag, Minister Hugo de Jonge, His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima. They also attended the trade dinner and the visit to Saarland University Medical Center (SUMC) where a cooperation agreement was signed between Logis.P and SUMC in the presence of the royal couple.
Besides the visits to Caritas (largest care organisation in Germany), the IKK Experience Center, the Saarland University Medical Center and Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software, there were also workshops, networking opportunities and individual matchmaking.
The power of networking during the mission can be best captured by one moment. At Caritas, one of the Dutch participants, Active Cues, pitched his smart solution “Tovertafel” to a group of invited German participants. The ‘“Tovertafel Original” is a fun care innovation that connects elderly people in the late stage of dementia.
After the pitch, the director of a German elderly care centre said: 'What a great solution! Unfortunately, I’m here only by myself but what I would really like to do is to invite you back at a later point. Then I can gather several of my colleague directors and see a demo of your product because I think it would be very interesting for them as well. Would you be able to do that?' The answer was, of course, a resounding yes. This is what trade missions are about: that one magic moment.
I really advise Dutch SMEs who are looking for international contacts to join such missions abroad. It not only helps you to get in contact with the right international players, but it also functions as a tool to network intensively with other Dutch organisations.
Ernst Nagel, Top Sector LSH
India
Largest trade mission to India gives a phenomenal boost to the relationship with the Netherlands
A historic trade mission to India has resulted in fruitful collaborations as numerous MoUs were signed. The official business delegation visited New Delhi and Bangalore for collective visits, network events, seminars, bilateral meetings and trade dinners. The aim of the mission was to provide opportunities to become better acquainted with the Indian healthcare sector, to seek new opportunities for cooperation, and to strengthen existing cooperations, as India provides an interesting market for Dutch organisations in the Life Sciences & Health sector.
The delegation
The largest trade mission ever to India from the Netherlands took place from 22 to 25 May. The mission was led by Prime Minister Rutte, Minister Kaag (Foreign Trade & Development), Minister Schouten (Agriculture), and Minister Nieuwenhuizen (Infrastructure). Hans de Boer, Chairman of VNO-NCW, led the business delegation. Minister Bruins of Medical Care and Sports led the Life Sciences & Health programme. The accompanying business delegation included 28 organisations of which half were knowledge institutions.
Healthcare in New Delhi
The official business delegation started the mission in New Delhi where they were welcomed by Ambassador Stoelinga. The highlight of was the one-on-one with Minister Bruins and the business delegation. Two collective visits were made to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Max Super Specialty Hospital. In addition, the delegation also participated in the Healthcare Challenges seminar co-organised by NATHEALTH, mainly discussing themes related to healthcare accessibility, optimised healthcare through smart solutions, innovation for affordable healthcare, vaccine partnership & development, and healthcare capacity building. The New Delhi visit successfully ended with a Holland trade dinner at the Ambassador’s Residence. MoUs were signed by Erasmus MC, Delft University of Technology and LiteVax swyMed under the presence of the ministers.
Next stop: Bangalore
In Bangalore, the delegation visited the Philips Innovation Centre and the Manipal Hospital. Which is the largest private hospital group in India, offering treatments and facilities across a wide range of specialisations including cardiac care, renal sciences, cancer care and organ transplants. At last the trade mission was wrapped up by a Trade Innovation Dinner with a short note from Minister Kaag. Just as at trade dinner in New Delhi, several MoUs were signed, for example by swyMed and Elsevier.
In line with the positive feedback from the business delegation, the mission has given a phenomenal boost to the existing relationship between the Netherlands and India within the Life Science & Health sector.
Prime Minister Modi and I agreed to further strengthen the close partnership between the Netherlands and India. With a rapidly growing Indian economy and the Netherlands as a gateway to Europe, there are many opportunities to be seized on both sides.
Prime Minister Rutte
But also Minister Bruins addresses the relationship with India. 'Prime Minister Modi is seeking to reform the healthcare system and help 500 million people get insured,' said Mr Bruins. 'This is an enormous operation, and it can only work if the public and private sectors work together. We talked with the Indian prime minister about the advice and support that Dutch research institutions and companies can give India. This also applies to the issue of antibiotic resistance. In 2040 this is predicted to cause 10 million deaths per year worldwide. India and the Netherlands are going to work together more closely to turn the tide.'
The Indian-Dutch relationship will be further consolidated with the presence of an Indian delegation at the World of Health Care (WoHC) on 27 September 2018. The WoHC offers a special meet & greet session with the Indian delegation where you can discuss the interesting opportunities in the Life Sciences & Health sector in India.
Kenya
Visiting the renowned Dutch health system and related solutions
From 25 to 28 September 2018, the annual Health~Holland Visitors Programme took place; a three-day programme for decision-makers in international, national, regional and local healthcare. It aims to increases the knowledge of the worldwide renowned Dutch Health system and related smart solutions which increase quality, affordability and accessibility. The programme enables foreign healthcare professionals to meet colleagues who share the same passion and face similar challenges in healthcare.
In 2018, thirteen different countries joined the programme and were able to compare policies and procedures, structures, solutions and opportunities for partnerships to foster improvement. For example, a Kenyan delegation was welcomed by organising party Task Force Health Care. The Kenyan representation consisted of seven decision-makers, ranging from county governments to UN platforms and the World Bank.
On the morning of the first day, the complete group of 95 delegates were welcomed at Rotterdam City Hall and they subsequently attended a seminar "Health(care) in the Netherlands" at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Subsequently, two more days filled with visits, hospital tours and roundtable discussions marked a successful 2018 edition. A highlight was the visit to the World of Health Care to present their country and network with 600 Dutch healthcare professionals. Kenyan delegate Khama Rogo (Head of Health in Africa Initiative | World Bank), moderator at the co-create session on universal health coverage said: ‘It was the icing on the cake of a great visit to Rotterdam and the events we participated in.’ Moreover, Arif Neky (Sr. Advisor of UN Strategic Partnerships) added: ‘This was a very valuable and insightful visit. It was equally helpful to do it jointly with Kenyan colleagues with much internal group sharing and rich discussions emerging. Kindly extend our appreciation to all relevant organisers in the government of the Netherlands, the private sector and innovations partners assembled for the various visits and interactions.’
Saudi Arabia
Life Sciences & Health Mission Saudi Arabia
The Netherlands Embassy in Riyadh and Task Force Health Care joined forces to organise the Life Sciences & Health Mission to Riyadh & Jeddah, Saudi Arabia which took place from the 9 to 13 of September.
Twelve Dutch companies participated in the four-day explanatory mission in Saudi Arabia, which is the largest and fastest growing healthcare market in the region and is estimated to reach $40 billion by 2020. Due to the rapid growth, the government is encouraging the private sector to meet the increasing demand, also the introduction of comprehensive insurance coverage will encourage private investments in the sector.
The Dutch business delegation visited various (private) hospitals, Dr. Sulaiman Al-Habib, SaudiGerman and Sulaiman Faqih. They were very impressed by the The Dr. Sulaiman Al-Habib Hospital as it is the first private digital hospital with the state of the art medical facility in Saudi Arabia.
The memorable part of the mission was The Global Health Exhibition at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center. It is Saudi’s premier healthcare business platform with seven country pavilions including China, The Netherlands, Turkey, Pakistan, USA, Poland and UK.
The exhibition and the hospital visits were valuable as it provided excellent opportunities for the business delegation in terms of meeting new relevant business contacts and learning more about the Saudi Arabian Life Sciences & Health sector.
Scandinavia
A five-day Scandinavian healthcare roadshow
Visiting Stockholm, Olso and Copenhagen in five days: a Healthcare Roadshow to Scandinavia filled with high-level meetings, workshops and hospital visits. According to the Dutch delegation, this exploratory mission provided great insights into the healthcare systems of the Nordic region.
Tapping into the Scandinavian healthcare market can seem quite daunting. Therefore, Task Force Health Care (TFHC) organised the very first Healthcare Roadshow to help understand the nuanced differences between the Nordic countries. This mission was prepared in close collaboration with the Netherlands Embassies in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and the Regional Economic Envoy for the Nordic and Baltic countries on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as a follow-up of the market studies launched in 2017.
The Dutch delegation, formed by seventeen companies, were therefore eager to gain more knowledge on the latest developments and opportunities within the eHealth, Medical Devices, Research & Education and Hospital Design sectors in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
The delegation started in Stockholm where it participated in workshops concerning the Swedish healthcare system, political priorities and developments in healthcare and innovation that were held at Karolinska University Hospital. The delegation learned that twenty-one Swedish county councils are responsible for the delivery of healthcare, and thus, their own hospital plans. Visits were made to Sophiahemmet, a private hospital, and Stockholm South General Hospital, which is undergoing its biggest change since 1940 and will acquire single patient rooms and a completely new operation department.
Subsequently, the delegation headed to Oslo, where they were welcomed by the Dutch Ambassador. Unlike Sweden, Norway has centralised hospital construction and procurement agencies.
The South-Eastern Regional Health Authority, which covers 55% of the population, provided an explanation of the Norwegian healthcare system as well as some of the challenges it faces, such as the need for delivery system innovation and digitalisation and greater coordination between primary and specialist healthcare.
The delegation participated in expert roundtable sessions on relevant topics and visited the new state-of-the-art operating rooms of The Intervention Centre at Rikshospitalet and Ullevål Sykehus, both part of Oslo University Hospital.
Lastly, the delegation arrived in Copenhagen where they were informed about the Strategy for Digitalisation presented by the Ministry of Health and the One Entry service that is offered in each of the five Danish regions. After a visit to the Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, a seminar on Solutions to Danish-Dutch Future Health Challenges was held with interesting presentations by Danish Regions, Healthcare Denmark and Welfare Tech. Filled with inspiration the delegation went to their final visit to learn about the soon to be built new organic New North Zealand Hospital. The relatively high population density of Denmark has contributed to the national hospital plan that aims to relocate, merge, and specialise 16 hospitals in the coming ten years.
Within a very short time, new connections were made and lots of knowledge was shared. Needless to say, it was an inspiring and successful Healthcare Roadshow to Scandinavia!
If you would like to discover more about the healthcare markets in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, please review the studies.
United Arab Emirates
Meeting new relevant business contacts in the Middle East
The Holland Pavilion, with eleven Dutch companies, provided an excellent opportunity for international professionals to meet companies and experts from the Dutch Life Sciences & Health sector.
From 29 January to 1 February 2019, the Arab Health trade fair took place at the Dubai International Trade & Exhibition Center. Arab Health is the largest gathering of healthcare and trade professionals in the MENA region. The annual trade fair on life sciences & healthcare innovation was attended by 4400 of the world’s leading healthcare companies who came from 70 countries. Besides the well-known Holland Pavilion (located in the main hall) the Task Force Health Care and the Dutch consulate general in Dubai jointly organised the Dutch network reception.
United States
Launch TFHC Healthcare Market Study Texas
In Texas there is a fine line between business opportunity and social responsibility. Due to the free market principle and the -enormous- financial resources available in health, there’s an unprecedented business/social drive to innovate and make dreams come true. This provides opportunities for Dutch health companies, start-ups and research organisations. To expose opportunities TFHC North America, together with the Netherlands Business Support Office Texas, prepared a market study on behalf of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).
By providing an overview of the healthcare system, healthcare market, and healthcare infrastructure in Texas, the TFHC Healthcare Market Study highlights priorities, opportunities, and challenges of their healthcare market. In addition, the market study provides information on historical and current trends, financial considerations, and practical information for Dutch organisations and companies interested in the Texas market.