MedtecSUMMIT 2025

How can innovative medical products and diagnostics successfully find their way into the market? What regulatory requirements and hurdles must be overcome? What do the payers and their evaluation procedures look like? These and other questions will be addressed in this session, which is aimed at everyone involved in the development, approval, and reimbursement of innovative health solutions. Experts from various fields, such as industry, authorities, health insurance companies, and consulting, provide an overview of the current challenges and opportunities in the area of market access and reimbursement. The session also offers an opportunity for exchange and networking with relevant actors and stakeholders.

Under the title <Hello, Tomorrow!>, our start-up pitch contest is being held in collaboration with EIT Health Germany-Switzerland CLC GmbH and Medical Valley EMN e.V., featuring start-ups with innovative solutions in the field of healthtech and healthcare. In this session, the finalists from the preliminary selection will pitch their ideas to our expert jury. The contest provides a platform to discover the latest technologies and approaches that can transform and improve healthcare. Additionally, it offers valuable connections to tomorrow’s innovators and provides insights into current trends and developments in the healthtech sector. The winners will be honored during the evening state reception at Kaiserburg.

Funding is a crucial aspect of any medical technology venture, but finding the right match between start-ups and investors at different stages of a company’s funding can be challenging. In this session, you will hear about successful matches between entrepreneurs and investors who have successfully navigated various funding phases, from pre-seed to growth financing. Learn from their insights, experiences, and tips on how to build trust, align expectations, and avoid pitfalls in the medtech funding landscape. Whether you are a founder seeking funding or an investor looking for opportunities, this session will provide valuable insights on the path to finding the perfect match. The session is structured along the different funding phases and provides practical insights into these phases from both the investor and company perspectives.

Robots and intelligent surgical devices were once just an idea, but today they play an increasingly important role in clinical practice. They have the potential to optimize or even redefine applications. In this session, we will explore the key factors for successfully integrating innovative technologies such as robotics and AI into clinical practice. We will discuss topics such as addressing clinical needs, when and how clinical-industry partnerships make sense, and present a best practice of an innovation journey from research to clinical use. Additionally, we will examine how Europe, particularly Germany, can strengthen its leadership in medtech, especially in new technologies like robotics and AI. This session is organized in cooperation with CURAC (German Society for Computer and Robotic-Assisted Surgery) and CTAC (Section for Minimally Invasive Computer and Telematic-Assisted Surgery of the German Society for Surgery).

The implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in medical technology offers significant opportunities for improving diagnosis, treatment and aftercare. AI-based systems can, for example, evaluate medical data, recognise patterns, make predictions or provide personal-ised recommendations. But how can the quality, safety and effectiveness of these systems be guaranteed? What successful medical products and diagnostic solutions with AI are currently available? How can the return on investment be realised? These and other questions will be answered by experts from science, practice and industry.

Health data is an important basis for research and (further) development, e.g. of new drugs, devices or therapies. Access to health data, but also the use of this data, is still associated with a number of barriers. For example, identifying the necessary data and where it is locat-ed, but also accessing it, takes a lot of effort. The quality of the data is also often very differ-ent, so that time-consuming processing is necessary. In addition to this so-called secondary use of health data, primary use is also playing an in-creasingly important role in the daily care process. Decision support systems analyse large amounts of data for patients with similar symptoms and provide indications for possible treatment. This will continue to increase in the future with the use of artificial intelligence. Appropriate health data spaces are therefore needed to enable low-key, uncomplicated and secure access to high-quality health data in the future. The EU's European Health Data Space (EHDS) should make this possible. But can the EHDS alone be the solution or is it just one element in a larger data space structure?

Which regulatory requirements must be met in order to bring AI products to market and use them? In this session, experts will shed light on the opportunities and challenges of AI in medical technology from different perspectives and provide insights into current projects and experiences. In addition, a practical guide will be presented, which was created as part of the cross-cluster project of the Medical Technology Cluster with the AI Agency for the support of SMEs in the approval of medical devices with AI components.

The medical technology supply chain contributes to over 70% of emissions in the healthcare sector, which corresponds to 26 million tons of CO2 equivalents in Germany, just under 4% of the country's total emissions. At the same time, we are facing a resource problem: fossil resources are becoming scarcer and global crises are paralyzing supply chains, putting healthcare at risk. The Alliance for Sustainable Medical Technology presents the session “Emerging Green Materials: Opportunities and Challenges for a Circular Economy in Healthcare”. This session will highlight the potential of green materials from renewable sources, recycled components and biodegradable materials for a sustainable circular economy in medical technology. Innovative approaches and scaling challenges will be discussed, taking into account strict hygiene and safety standards. Experts will present forward-looking solutions that promise both ecological and economic benefits and can contribute to the resilience of the healthcare sector.

Hospitals and operating theatres are complex environments that require efficient coordination, communication and collaboration between different stakeholders, such as surgeons, nurses, tech-nicians and administrators. With the advancement of digitalisation, networking and artificial intelli-gence, new opportunities are opening up to optimise workflows, increase patient safety and im-prove outcomes in these areas. In this session, we will explore how innovative solutions from start-ups, corporations and research institutes are connecting the dots in hospitals and operating thea-tres and creating value for patients, providers and payers. We will also discuss the challenges and best practices of implementing and scaling such solutions, as well as future trends and visions for the next ‘big bang’ in healthcare.

Digital innovations in healthcare are revolutionizing the way patients are treated and cared for by facilitating access to medical services and enabling personalized treatments. Technologies such as telemedicine, artificial intelligence and mobile health applications improve the efficiency and accuracy of diagnoses, therapies and patient care. These developments not only contribute to better patient care, but also to relieving the burden on the healthcare system as a whole. What are the factors that make the applications successful for users and manufacturers? The European Digital Innovation Hub DigiCare offers services and infrastructure to accompany digital innovation and digital transformation for sustainable success.