EIT Health Germany Partners participate at 7th Annual Symposium ‘House of Pharma & Healthcare’

Enhancing cross-industry collaboration for better health outcomes

On 10-11 September 2018, more than 100 participants from the international healthcare scene joined the 7th Annual Symposium “House of Pharma & Healthcare”.

The House of Pharma & Healthcare aims at further developing the pharma competence cluster of the Hesse region in order to bridge the innovation gap in drug development. Therefore, it promotes the collaboration among several actors from the healthcare and pharma industry in Germany and offers a neutral discussion platform.

Pictured: A panel discussion on cost intelligence – the healthcare system in view of an ageing society and increasing costs. Claudia Wüstenhagen (ZEIT DOCTOR), Dr. Stefan Simianer (AbbVie), Dr. Dorothee Brakmann (Janssen Deutschland), Kai Swoboda (IKK Classic), and Prof. Dr. Michael Schlander (DKFZ).

The Arzneimittelinitiative Sachsen-Thüringen (ARMIN) has received the German Patient Award 2018 for the best innovation for the increase of therapy loyalty of patients in the framework of the Annual Symposium. This Award has a value of €10,000. The initiative shows an excellent way to increase therapy loyalty and to reduce medical risks.

Topics that were discussed during the event included the current situation on changes and innovations in healthcare as well as specific discussion topics like digital trends in healthcare or strategies for the technology transfer of science and industry.

Stefan Grüttner, Minister for Social Affais and Integration of Hesse emphasized the importance of collaboration across industry sectors, especially in view of increasing healthcare challenges like antimicrobial resistance or political changes in the industry sector.

EIT Health Germany Partners included AbbVie, DKFZ, Fraunhofer, Janssen and Roche. Payer representatives like AOK or IKK also joined the discussions.

Belén Garijo, CEO of Healthcare of Merck KGaA, mentioned how culture and history can influence organisations and highlighted the strength of the family-owned 350-year old company Merck. Dr. Stefan Simianer, Vice President International Development of AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co KG, shared his perspectives on cost intelligence, personalised medicine, streamlined measures and patient-focus alongside other German EIT Health Partners like DKFZ and Janssen.

Christine Neumann, Communication and Public Affairs Manager of EIT Health Germany, joined the event to engage with several healthcare stakeholders.

A highlight of the event was a Science Slam, where five young scientists presented their innovative pharma projects. Gesine Meißner, Member of the European Parliament in the ENVI Committee discussed the European HTA process together with other stakeholders and emphasized that the EU member states need to collaborate to prevent a reduction in quality in the HTA process.

Altogether, the various speakers and participants had the opportunity to exchange their opinions on current trends and developments in the pharmaceutical industry and new therapy options.

More information about the event can be found here.

For further enquiries contact:

• Christine Neumann, christine.neumann@eithealth.eu