The Top Sector Life Sciences & Health strives to be an authority when it comes to innovation in healthcare. And as such, we are in close contact with the ministries engaged in this important topic. In October, we had the opportunity to provide input to our Minister for Health, Welfare and Sport, Edith Schippers, on the draft Innovation Letter that was sent to the Dutch Parliament. Later on we met with the Minister to look at future collaborative efforts.  During our pleasant discussion, we exchanged our viewpoints on how to realise a sustainable healthcare system, the important role of innovation to achieve this mission, and how to facilitate the introduction of current and future innovations to the market.

On 17 November, Minister Schippers and Top Sector LSH met again. This time at the Health~Holland Pavilion at Medica in Dusseldorf. Medica is the world's largest medical trade fair. Twenty Dutch medical technology companies presented their innovative strength at the Pavilion. These varied from new health apps, to services and medical devices and I had the pleasure to accompany the minister at her visit to the enterprises and Technical Universities, presenting their products.

The Netherlands is often presented as one, concentrated LSH cluster. Within this Dutch cluster you will find various life sciences parks, each with their own distinctive focus and approach. Recently, I visited, invited by its mayor, the life sciences sector in Oss. Oss is the home to big companies like  MSD and Aspen but, a.o. within the context of the Pivot Park, also serves as a breeding ground for an increasing number of successful innovative LSH start-ups. It was an inspiring visit, during which the companies presented their future plans and we discussed the Top Sector’s possibilities to contribute to a prosperous science park.

However, the Top Sector’s ambitions are not limited to the Netherlands. Our international scope has been published in the International Strategy, and our presence at Medica is part of this strategy. Within this context, the Top Sector recently also hosted a Pavilion at BIO-Europe in Munich, the largest European partnering conference in biotech and pharma. Both are excellent examples of how we can jointly accelerate the impact of the Dutch innovative power in LSH!

Finally I would like to take the opportunity here to thank Colja Laane for his excellent contribution to the activities of the executive office, who now has accepted another opportunity. However we are very happy to continue to work with him and use his experience, as a member of the Steering Board.  

Read all about our activities and other important events in this Health~Holland Update. Enjoy!

Jan Raaijmakers
Chairman of the Top Team Life Sciences & Health