**Successful Conclusion of the 6th Health Tech Hub Styria Event: “Cooperation is Key”**

Graz, April 17, 2024 – The 6th edition of the “Health Tech Hub Styria” took place on April 15th and 16th, 2024, hosting approximately 250 international participants at the Med Uni Aula. Under the theme “Future in Diagnostics and Therapy,” the event placed a spotlight on one of the key drivers of innovation: cooperation.

Around 60 speakers from research, industry, healthcare institutions, and numerous start-ups shed light on how collaborative projects are formed, the challenges involved, and the significant opportunities, particularly in the healthcare sector. Keynotes, inputs, panel discussions, and approximately 230 B2B meetings, organized by the Enterprise Europe Network, facilitated lively exchanges within the Health Tech scene.

From Innovative Idea to Patient Care

Navigating the world of product development in healthcare is complex and riddled with obstacles. Long development cycles requiring substantial financing, stringent and varying approval regulations depending on the target market, as well as differing priorities, needs, and expectations among healthcare providers, researchers, investors, and companies make the journey from product idea to patient a path that can only be realized through strong cooperative partnerships and intensive exchange.

Among the distinguished speakers were Bettina Resl (Novartis), Andreas Mühlberger (Infineon), Maurice Deuss (Payer), Franz Aigner (WILD Group), Günter Winkler (Ottronic), Gerold Winkler (MEDS), Daniela Pak-Graf (Merkur Innovation Hub), Christoph Magnes (JOANNEUM RESEARCH Health), Katharina Proske (CANCOM), as well as Annelie Weinberg, Lars Kamolz, Harald Sourij, Sebastian Schwaminger, Dieter Szolar, and Alexander Micko from the Medical University of Graz.

Moderating the event were Emma Somerville and Michael Kerschbaumer (SFG), Sophie Narath (Med Uni Graz), Craig Matthews (Science Park Graz), Lorenz Neuhäuser (Human.technology Styria), and Karin Hölbling (ICS).

Start-Ups and Transnational Collaboration

Start-ups such as RobotDreams, Vertify, SteadySense, DECIDE, Predicting Health, CommuModo, and arterioscope presented their perspectives on the necessity of cooperation. Social entrepreneur Frank Leyhausen emphasized the importance of collaboration between product developers and target audiences, while Olivier Colin, CEO of the French organization “La Maison de l’Innovation de la Médecine Spécialisée (MIMS),” underscored the significance of transnational collaboration.

Neighbors in Collaboration

Collaborations within the D-A-C-H and Alpe-Adria regions are inherently advantageous. Economic agencies, clusters, and representatives of foreign trade centers thus presented opportunities for market entry in these neighboring countries, highlighting particularly the many points of connection in the healthcare markets of Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Italy.

From Mur Island to Hospital Grounds

The two-day, English-language event was complemented by a “Life Science Breakfast” at the Center for Knowledge and Technology Transfer (ZWT), an evening networking event on Mur Island, and tours of several highlights of the Graz Medical Science City, including the “underground” of the regional hospital, biobank, blood bank, and the Division of Macroscopic and Clinical Anatomy Med Uni Graz, as well as the research laboratory of Joanneum Research Health.

The event was organized and funded by an organizing team led by the Styrian health cluster Human.technology Styria. The HTH team organizations include SFG, Med Uni Graz, Science Park Graz, ESA Space Solutions, City of Graz, JOANNEUM RESEARCH, ICS Internationalization Center Styria, and Human.technology Styria.

Expressing satisfaction on behalf of this team, Cluster Manager Lejla Pock stated, “The HTH demonstrates the innovative strength of Styria. The key to this lies undoubtedly in the highly developed willingness to cooperate among all key players in the healthcare sector—both locally and beyond the borders of Austria. As evidenced by this highly successful event: Cooperation is key.”