MedTech Europe, the alliance of European medical technology industry associations, is launched today at the European MedTech Forum in Brussels. Founded by the european medical technology industry association Eucomed and the European Diagnostic Manufacturers Association (EDMA), the alliance will collaborate closely on common policy interest areas and welcomes other European medtech associations to join. MedTech Europe will be legally established by the end of 2012.
MedTech Europe will focus on the medical device and in vitro diagnostics legislative frameworks, the medical technology industry five-year strategy, health technology assessment, patients and safety and environmental issues. Future topics of collaboration will be determined by the MedTech Europe Board. This body will initially be composed of three representatives from EDMA and three representatives from Eucomed. The chairmanship will be rotating between its members.
Announced as a European Industry Alliance in January 2012, MedTech Europe sits underneath its founding members and will remain a separate entity, as will EDMA and Eucomed. The three associations will be helmed by one chief executive officer being Serge Bernasconi (pictured).
“We are very pleased with the launch of MedTech Europe today which comes at a time when further cooperation between the medical technology industry associations is the right way forward. The alliance gives the in vitro diagnostics industry the opportunity to sign on to the Contract for a Healthy Future and contribute to steering Europe’s healthcare systems onto a sustainable path,” Jürgen Schulze, EDMA president commented on the launch.
The joint medtech industry strategy centres around the recognition that sustainable healthcare can only be delivered through value-based innovation and industry is committed to demonstrating that improved health outcomes and cost effectiveness can go hand in hand.
“Value based innovation is at the heart of what the medical technology industry does every day. Our industry is committed to moving forward with this new innovation paradigm and demonstrating that we deliver value for Europe’s patients, healthcare professionals, payers, policymakers and society as a whole,” Eucomed chairman Guy Lebeau explained. “Today we also launch our Value-based Innovation publication that highlights what we have done in the last 12 months to deliver on the promise of our contract. Examples include the forming of MedTech Europe, the setting up of dedicated steering committees to work on the implementation of the contract and recruitment of key people in order to deliver the critical socio economic data of our innovations.”
To support MedTech Europe, a new website—www.medtecheurope.org—has been developed which offers a host of comprehensive information on the policy issues that MedTech Europe will be working on. MedTech Europe’s bi-weekly newsletter, blog and social media platforms are also prominently featured on the new website.
At the same time, the www.reforminghealthcare.eu website has been overhauled and features the updated Contract for a Healthy Future, the new Creating Value in European Healthcare publication and The Economist report on Future-proofing Western Europe’s Healthcare.
“I am excited about the opportunities MedTech Europe brings to the table. The alliance not only signifies a stronger and more consistent representation of Europe’s medical technology industry, but also provides healthcare stakeholders with one unified industry discussion partner when needed. Being able to speak with one organisation about medtech issues should make the lives of healthcare players easier and makes industry representation more credible and impactful,” said Serge Bernasconi, chief executive officer of Eucomed, EDMA and MedTech Europe.