Health Technology (HealthTech) represents a transformative sector focused on revolutionising healthcare through innovative and advanced technological solutions. Its goal is to enhance patient care, improve healthcare delivery, and increase the efficiency of medical and health services. This involves the development and application of technologies such as telemedicine, electronic health records, wearable health devices, and artificial intelligence to diagnose and manage diseases more effectively.
HealthTech’s growth signifies a shift towards more accessible, personalised, and preventive healthcare systems. In the ever-evolving healthcare landscape, characterised by growing health challenges and an ageing population, traditional healthcare systems often struggled to meet the demands efficiently, which was particularly highlighted during global health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. The emergence of HealthTech was driven by the necessity for more adaptive, precise, and patient-centred healthcare services, encouraging innovations such as remote patient monitoring, personalised medicine, and health data analytics. These advancements reflect a broader movement towards automation, digitalization, and the necessity for health literacy and proactive management in a world where technology plays a pivotal role in shaping health outcomes.
There are more than 35,000¹ medical technology companies in Europe, a significant number of of which are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with MedTech Europe being the trade association representing said companies. These companies are spread across various countries, including Germany, Italy, the UK, France, and Switzerland. The healthtech sector in Europe is diverse and vibrant, with numerous startups continuously emerging to address various challenges in healthcare through innovative technological solutions. The European medical technology market was estimated at roughly €160 billion in 2022², with the five biggest markets being Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a number of challenges, as reported in the latest Health at a Glance Report (2022), from the increased mortality rates due to COVID-19, higher rates of mental health issues and obesity particularly in adolescents, and elective procedures and screening being cancelled during the pandemic with a resultant backlog afterwards. These challenges pressured healthcare services across the EU in cases beyond what they could support.
This state of affairs has led to an EU-wide increased national investment into the healthcare sector. In fact, the EU launched their largest health-focused programme thus far, the EU4Health programme, with a budget of over €5 billion, in response to the COVID pandemic. The EU also releases calls for healthcare-related projects under Horizon Europe, through which HealthTech companies can obtain funding for their enterprises. Horizon Europe is geared more towards research and innovation, while EU4Health, amongst other things, focuses on managing cross-border illnesses, preventing cancer, ensuring that medical products and healthcare in general are accessible to all, and enhancing the digital aspect of healthcare. Such an interest provides opportunities for HealthTech companies to offer their services. For example, the rise of telemedicine would highlight the importance of having high-quality digital healthcare services.
The EU has striven to ensure a high quality of healthcare and has as such enacted tight legal regulations to that end. Regulation (EU) 2017/745, also known as the Medical Devices Regulation, has been in effect since May 2021 and classifies the devices into four classes based on the level of risk to the individual or public health. Regulation 2017/746/EU performs a similar role for in vitro diagnostic devices.
With regards to healthcare projects, AcrossLimits was involved in the ICT Tools for the diagnosis of Autoimmune diseases in the Mediterranean Area (ITAMA) project. AcrossLimits partnered with multiple entities including universities and hospitals in both Italy and Malta in order to raise awareness about coeliac disease and to assess how effective less invasive testing of said disease is. As part of ITAMA, 20,000 children across Malta and Sicily were screened for coeliac disease. When this was interrupted by the COVID pandemic, a web application and eLearning platform were created to aid schools in keeping students and staff healthy. A technical tool, called the Decision Support System, was also developed from the data gathered, which aids in diagnosis of coeliac disease.
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If you have a project idea for which you’d like to make use of funding available to bring it to life, then be sure to get in touch. With 20+ years of experience in funding procurement and participation in over 80 successful EU projects to date, AcrossLimits has a dedicated and experienced team that can help you draft proposals and apply to EU funding opportunities. With our expansive network spanning both the private and public sector as well as academia, we’re in pole position to cater to your needs.
To learn more about how we can help you make your project idea a reality, contact us at: [email protected].
References:
- European Medical Technology Industry in Figures, p.15
- European Medical Technology Industry in Figures, p.19
