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Health Care Industry / Medical Technology
Health is not only one of the greatest assets of Germany, it is also a major economic factor - and one of increasing importance for both growth and employment.
The health care industry in Germany currently employs 4.5 million people - around four times as many people as the automotive industry.
The strong growth prospects and the paradigm shift from aftercare to prevention are primarily due to three developments: increasing need (demographic change), changes in demand (the trend toward a "feel-good," wellnessoriented society) and an increase in the number of available options (technological progress).
Ever more foreign investors discover the immense possibilities of this "hidden giant" industry.
1 The Healthy Capital Region
The Berlin-Brandenburg Capital Region is the center of gravity when it comes to Europe's health care industry. Over 370 pharmaceutical, biotech and medtech companies - including some major world players - call the region home, as do over 100 nonuniversity research establishments as well as the region's dozens of university-related institutions (including the Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Europe's largest university hospital). Health care companies in the region also benefit from their close proximity to major players in the worlds of politics and economics - all of which means better products, faster and under the stewardship of top scientists and managers.
More and more foreign companies are discovering the excellent business possibilities available in this exciting industry in Eastern Germany. One outstanding example is Healthways. With 2.4 million patients, the Nashville, Tennessee-based company is the US’s largest provider of high-risk disease management. In 2007, the publicly traded company employed around 4,000 people and had sales of USD 615.6 million.
In 2007, the company launched a German subsidiary based in Hennigsdorf, Brandenburg, which now employs over 100 people. The company aims to assist German health-insurance providers in delivering specialized, comprehensive longterm care so as to help their subscribers stay healthy or get healthier - and thereby reduce overall health care costs. The company's disease-management program entails providing telephone-based, written, internet-based and personally individualized support that helps patients slow the progression of their chronic diseases and improve their daily lives. In August 2007, the Hamburg-based Deutsche Angestellte Krankenkasse (DAK) signed a three-year contract with Healthways to provide services to its chronically ill subscribers in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Since January 1, 2008, Healthways has been helping 50,000 of DAK's 6.2 million subscribers nationwide who are suffering from diabetes, heart disease and respiratory conditions to become active participants in the management of their chronic conditions.
"This program puts us on a new path to prove that patient support programs (...) will make it easier for people to manage their chronic conditions and improve their health care experience," says DAK CEO Dr. Herbert Rebscher.
2 Remote Control for Legs
The medical industry in Saxony-Anhalt draws on a grand tradition. The Harz area takes advantage of its industrial strength and focuses on the production of plasticbased medical products. In Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt's capital and a center for neurology research, companies are developing the latest in modern medical technology.
© Hasomed GmbH
Paralyzed but still able to ride a bike? It's now possible, thanks to the innovative spirit at Hasomed GmbH. This Magdeburg-based company has developed a machine that allows paralyzed patients to move their legs using their own muscles. It employs the technique of functional electrical stimulation, which invigorates the arms and legs via electrical impulses. A movement trainer (RehaMove) and a recumbent tricycle (RehaBike) are the first systems to make use of a novel stimulator (RehaStim).
"In a sense, the legs are moved by remote control. Sensors in the pedals activate muscle contractions at exactly the right time, making a smooth movement possible," explains CEO Dr. Peter Weber.
Not only does this help paralyzed patients retain leg musculature, but they also profit from an improvement in their general health. The company's employees have been working on cognitive disorders even longer than they have in the area of electrical stimulation. They have developed a therapy system that allows stroke patients and others to train their attention, memory and perception. The software is available in 15 languages and is used around the world. In Germany alone, it is employed in 90 percent of all rehabilitation clinics.
Hasomed GmbH was founded in 1997, but its roots go back to the 1980s. Even then, Magdeburg was renowned as a center for brain research. Today, the company employs 30 individuals.
3 A Global Player from Zeulenroda
Medical technology is one of Thuringia's high-performance industries. The area is home to a broad range of industries, including analytics, laser technology, optics, pharmaceuticals, medical instruments, apparatus manufacturers and implant technologies.
© Hasomed GmbH
One of Thuringia's leading manufacturers of medical products is Bauerfeind AG. Located in Zeulenroda, the company has an annual turnover of EUR 200 million. In 1929, Bauerfeind AG was founded as a family business specializing in the production of compression stockings. Today, the company also produces other medical aids, such as bandages, orthopedic insoles and orthotic and prosthetic equipment, much of it still made by hand.
With 1,800 employees worldwide, 15 subsidiaries in Europe, the Middle East and the United States, and more than 70 distributors, the company is active around the globe. Bauerfeind employs around 800 people at the Zeulenroda location alone.
Since 1990, more than EUR 50 million has been invested in the Zeulenroda site. Investments have gone into production halls and a logistics center as well as into Bauerfeind's innovation center, where scientists, doctors, orthopedic retailers and orthopedic technicians work side by side developing new products.
The strength of the company's innovative drive can be seen, for example, in its "Image 3D" digital measurement and treatment system, which allows compression stockings to be measured digitally by means of a camera reading measurement points along the patient's legs - without ever having to touch the patient. Using this information, the correct stocking is then chosen from the product line or made specifically to order. Image 3D also enables reliable monitoring of therapeutic progress.
4 BioCon Valley® - A Network of Competence
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has set itself the goal of becoming Germany's number one health region.
And its chances look good, too, as the state enjoys a number of competitive advantages, including a moderate climate and unspoiled countryside stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Mecklenburg Lake District. With around 200 wellness hotels, 35 hospitals and 67 rehabilitation clinics, the state's health and wellness sector is one of the most modern and efficient in Europe. 1996 saw the creation of BioCon Valley as part of the German government's federal BioRegio Initiative. BioCon Valley is a cross-industry network for modern life sciences in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
In 2004, a healtheconomy coordination office was set up under the auspices of BioCon Valley. This office acts as the central contact point for activities relating to the state's health economy. On behalf of the state government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, it supports projects in the areas of health tourism, the food industry, prevention, rehabilitation and medicine. It also works in the field of life science and quality-control, marketing, certification, training and professional development.
A review of achievements to date is presented annually at the National Conference on Health Economy held in Rostock-Warnemünde. Partners in the BioCon Valley initiative include companies working in the areas of biotechnology, medicine and medical technology, health tourism and the healthrelated service sector as well as institutes of higher education, research institutions and health organizations.
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