In the world of medical technology, where innovation plays a crucial role in shaping the future of healthcare, MEDICA 2024, taking place in Düsseldorf, Germany, from November 11 to 14, 2024, has established itself as a leading B2B platform, bringing together top experts and innovators from the industry. As one of the largest international trade fairs for medical equipment and technology, MEDICA attracts thousands of exhibitors and tens of thousands of visitors from around the world, creating new business opportunities, fostering professional connections, and showcasing the latest technological advancements. In an interview with Mr. Martin Koch, (Senior Manager MarCom – Press & PR, Messe Düsseldorf GmbH), we explored the factors that keep this fair relevant, key innovations on display, and what to expect at the upcoming MEDICA 2024.
MEDICA has developed into one of the largest B2B medical trade fairs in the world. What are the key factors that have contributed to its continued growth and success over the years?
A key factor in the success of MEDICA (and the parallel supplier trade fair COMPAMED) is the high level of internationality on the visitor and exhibitor side. Around 70 nations are represented on the exhibitor side, while visitors (2023: 83,000) are travelling from over 160 countries. The event is marketed worldwide via an extensive network of 77 foreign representatives and subsidiaries of Messe Düsseldorf on all continents. MEDICA boosts business in the medical technology industry. This is where manufacturers enter into co-operations for the production, distribution and marketing of products. This is where they meet high-ranking representatives of the specialised medical trade from all over the world as well as companies from the supplier sector and hundreds of start-ups as important drivers of innovation. Naturally, the medical technology business, and therefore MEDICA, is benefiting from constant market growth. Driven by rising life expectancy worldwide and the increasing number of older people, the demand for healthcare services and products for medical care is growing.
How do you ensure that MEDICA remains relevant and anticipates industry trends in such a rapidly evolving sector as healthcare and medical technology?
Our team keeps a very close eye on the market, trends and developments and is often out and about, including at other events. We are in dialogue with our customers, industry innovators, journalists and other multipliers. Our team also receives valuable input for the ongoing development of the event from partners for the supporting programme and the trade fair advisory board, in which important associations and exhibitors are represented.
With over 5,300 exhibitors from 70 countries, how do you manage the diversity of participants and ensure that a global perspective is represented?
Our extensive network of foreign representatives and subsidiaries helps us to achieve this. We also successfully organise other health fairs in booming continental markets, some of which have a long history of success. We are in regular contact with our customers there. These include MEDICAL FAIR CHINA, MEDICAL FAIR ASIA and MEDICAL FAIR INDIA, which we market uniformly under the umbrella brand MEDICARE ASIA from our Messe Düsseldorf hub in Singapore.
How does the MEDICA trade fair contribute to the further development of medical technology and healthcare solutions on a global level?
We do this by offering suitable platforms for the medtech business in attractive growth markets with MEDICA and our medical trade fairs abroad. It is important that our events are not just trade fair exhibitions. A thematically wide-ranging supporting programme with top speakers and all relevant industry trends ensures knowledge transfer and professional discussions at the cutting edge. Also important: we offer the young, particularly creative start-up scene a stage. MEDICA was one of the very first cross-industry trade fairs with special offers for start-ups and their presentations of sometimes ground-breaking product ideas.
What are some of the most exciting innovations or technologies that will be presented at MEDICA 2024? Are there any ground-breaking products that you are particularly looking forward to?
At MEDICA 2024, there will be five spheres to discover a wide range of innovations for outpatient and clinical use. These include, for example, a robotic system to support highly complex neurosurgical procedures on the brain, in which the skullcap can be opened gently and less traumatising (for the fully conscious patient) using short-pulse laser procedures, or a new type of drive system that can be integrated into most hospital beds. It works according to the “e-bike principle” and offers hospital staff noticeable relief when transporting patients. Also new: a medically certified smartwatch for easy measurement of blood pressure on the wrist. The worlds of experience at the trade fair are: Lab & Diagnostics (laboratory technology and diagnostics), Med Tech & Devices (medical technology and electromedicine), Disposables (consumer goods and consumables), Physio Tech (physiotherapy and orthopaedic technology) and Digital Health (IT systems and IT solutions).
And because we know that every trade fair visit is also characterised by spontaneous discoveries, we are constantly working on special themes that can change from year to year. This year, one such novelty is the special “Automotive Health” area, which we are organising together with the Innovations Institute. Numerous sensors and functions can already be integrated into cars to enable healthy (and therefore safe) driving. The drowsiness warning system already installed in many vehicles is just one example. Many more functionalities are possible in order to derive risks for emergencies and thus potentially serious accidents from the measurement of health-related data from drivers.
At the special area, the Innovations Institute will be demonstrating its proven expertise in this field by exhibiting vehicles such as the VW ID.4, the VW Tiguan, a historic racing car and a racing simulator. Important customers of the institute include Audi, Mercedes, Porsche and Volkswagen. I will definitely take a look at this action area and try out a lot of things.
Which areas of medical technology – such as health IT, diagnostics or mobile health – are currently attracting the most attention from exhibitors and visitors?
The aforementioned spheres of MEDICA are all highly frequented by trade visitors. Of course, all products, applications and services related to the digitalisation of healthcare are currently in the spotlight. This applies, for example, to telemedical applications, robotics and supporting systems in medical use and, in general, more and more diagnostic and therapeutic product solutions based on artificial intelligence. There is also strong demand for compact laboratory medical test procedures that can be used directly at the point of care and deliver rapid test results.
Could you give us an insight into the startup ecosystem at MEDICA, especially in the context of the MEDICA Startup COMPETITION and the Healthcare Innovation World Cup? What role do these platforms play in shaping the future of healthcare?
Several hundred start-ups from all over the world take part in MEDICA every year. The MEDICA START-UP PARK, for example, is the central meeting point for the digitally driven start-up scene, with a record participation of almost 60 start-ups this year. The MEDICA INNOVATION FORUM stage is located in the immediate neighbourhood. This is where the finals of the two start-up competitions will be held. The `Healthcare Innovation World Cup´ will focus on Internet-of-Medical-Things solutions.
The MEDICA START-UP COMPETITION covers a broader range of topics. Here, the focus is on digital innovations in general. These programme items are among the most popular of all. The visitors include investors, potential cooperation partners for start-ups from the medical technology industry and medical users, e.g. doctors. They are all looking forward to the developments of the start-ups for the healthcare of tomorrow.
With such a large number of exhibitors, how do you help companies build meaningful business relationships and maximise their networking and collaboration opportunities?
We offer our exhibitors and visitors various tools for optimal networking. In our company and product database, exhibitors can optimally present their innovations and their team for the duration of the trade fair. There are also offers for exhibitors for perfect lead management. Exhibitors and visitors can use our matchmaking service (available online and via app) to research the right contacts for their interests and arrange appointments for face-to-face meetings at the trade fair stand or in one of our specially created matchmaking lounges.
The extensive programme of forums and conferences is one of the main attractions of MEDICA. How do you decide which topics to cover and what are some of the main themes for 2024?
In terms of topics, we orientate ourselves on particularly influential market trends that provide plenty of information and discussion material in the industry. In this respect, we are in close contact with our partners for the design of the stage programme. In this way, we ensure that MEDICA and COMPAMED address the most important trend topics of the year with their agenda in the accompanying forums and conferences.
The “hot topics” at this year’s MEDICA include current application examples of artificial intelligence or robotics and support systems in everyday medical practice. Another focus will be on the increasing networking in healthcare provision. This involves innovations for the “point of care”, i.e. (in most cases outpatient) diagnostics and treatment in close proximity to the patient. This also includes telemedicine applications in order to ensure optimal cross-sector collaboration between all those involved in the treatment process.
One of the top themes at this year’s MEDICA will also be the human factor. Almost all companies active in the healthcare industry are affected by the urgent shortage of skilled labour and are looking for solutions. These will be discussed in a target group-orientated manner in the individual forums and conferences.
How does MEDICA work with politicians and decision-makers to influence healthcare policy and drive change in the medical sector?
We offer politicians and decision-makers in the healthcare industry the right stage for their appearance and their messages. One of the most important health policy events in Germany, for example, is the German Hospital Conference, which is part of the MEDICA programme. This is where the top management of German hospitals meet to discuss all current issues, such as the major reform of hospital structures. This reform is currently one of the most important health policy projects in Germany in recent years.
For this reason, Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach will also take part in the opening event of the German Hospital Conference on 11 November and will speak to and discuss with the delegates in a live broadcast. The MEDICA ECON FORUM is another programme format with a political slant and many prominent speakers. This forum is organised by a major German health insurance company. The central question here is: How can modern procedures quickly find their way into everyday outpatient and clinical care at a reasonable cost?
How do you envisage the future of trade fairs like MEDICA in the next five to ten years? Will digital formats continue to be integrated alongside face-to-face events?
The coronavirus pandemic has shown how much people miss face-to-face encounters and appreciate trying out new products directly. As a result, we are now realising that digital formats are not replacing the face-to-face format, but rather complementing it in terms of optimal preparation for trade fair participation and information. The COMPAMED Innovation Forum, for example, is organised as a webinar, takes place every year in early summer and provides an initial preview of the trade fair run-up in November with annually changing topics.
This year, the focus was on supplier innovations for the field of implant medicine. Small press meetings or workshops with multipliers can also be organised as webinars in preparation for the trade fair.
In addition to such digital programme formats, our digital media, internet portals, information and social media channels are a central element of community building. After all, this is what it is all about at the moment and will become even more important in the future: It is about continuously providing the healthcare community with relevant content via the appropriate channels and touchpoints using integrated measures in the sense of 365-day/360-degree marketing, with the highlight then being the face-to-face event.
What are some of the biggest challenges in organising such a large international event, and how are they overcome?
In rankings of the most stressful professions, that of event manager regularly appears in the top 10. That’s not surprising. The exciting thing about the job is also the challenge: it is the versatility that this job entails. Organising major events is complex. Over a long period of time, you have to brief and manage a large team of specialists and many partners around the world and liaise with customers and multipliers. The must take place at precisely defined optimal times so that everything ultimately meshes like the cogs of a clockwork mechanism. Clockwork is a fitting metaphor for the processes in the trade fair business. The processes are sometimes intricate.
Everyone knows this from organising a family celebration. If just one detail is forgotten or doesn’t work as desired, it can detract from the overall impression. What’s more, the date of the event is firmly marked in the calendar. There is no time buffer beyond this. Working with checklists and running through various scenarios is therefore essential. In short, you need to be prepared for many things and always have an alternative in mind. However, a certain routine helps over time. You recognise possible points of friction and know what to pay particular attention to. The most important, best and most beautiful thing in all of this is teamwork. You get to know a lot of people, come into contact with different cultures, learn new things and are even better prepared the next time.
As a global hub for innovation, MEDICA continues to play a vital role in shaping the future of medical technology by fostering collaboration, introducing breakthrough technologies, and driving forward the conversations that will define healthcare in the coming years. Whether you’re a medical professional, technology developer, or investor, attending MEDICA offers unparalleled opportunities to engage with industry leaders, explore cutting-edge solutions, and form valuable partnerships that can advance healthcare on a global scale.
MEDICA 2024 will take place in Düsseldorf, Germany, from November 11 to 14, 2024. You can purchase tickets at this link.
Foto: Messe Düsseldorf / ctillmann
