The Digi Derma Start-up Café: Digital and AI-supported solutions for diagnostics and therapy in dermatology
The Pfizer Healthcare Hub Berlin wants to make the potential of digital health applications accessible to doctors and patients in the field of dermatology and supported the 3rd Digi Derma Start-up Café. On 5 November, the startup scene met with the Professional Association of German Dermatologists (BVDD) on the EUREF campus in Berlin. Startups, pharmaceutical companies, incubators, accelerators, dermatologists and interested parties from politics, business and self-administration exchanged views on teledermatological, digital and AI-supported solutions for skin diseases.
Visitors got to know new digital applications from 14 startups and were able to discuss market entry opportunities in Germany. The jury selected LENICURA GmbH by Dr. Katharina Hennig as the winner of the poster presentation. "It is very important for digitalization in the pharmaceutical sector to go where innovation happens. In this way, we come into contact with startups that are our cooperation partners of tomorrow," says Maja Hoock, Lead of the Pfizer Healthcare Hub. Marco Kremp, Senior Brand Manager Dermatology and Lisa Gebauer, Digital Marketing Trainee, supervised the booth of the Pfizer Healthcare Hub. Sales Director Ines Hübner and Dr. Anja Plenske from the I&I Medical Team were also on site.
Panel discussion: Digitalization in theory & practice
In the panel discussion, Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. Sebastian Kuhn, Head of the Institute of Digital Medicine, Prof. Dr. iur. Fruzsina Molnár-Gábor, Heidelberg University / Faculty of Law and Dr. med. Ralph von Kiedrowski, President of the BVDD discussed the current state of digitalization in Germany, named problem areas such as the telematics infrastructure and took a look into the future of dermatology. The discussion was moderated by Jessica Hanneken, VP Investment and Strategy Management, BFS Health Finance GmbH.
The conclusion: Innovation must create clear added value for doctors and patients and should be developed together with practitioners from practice.
"In the course of digitalization, more and more possibilities are being developed to communicate faster and more effectively between doctor and patient, to make diagnoses or to accompany therapies. Making these new digital solutions accessible to as many patients as possible is an important task in which the Pfizer Healthcare Hub is happy to support," says Anja Plenske.
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Better patient care through DTx: Maja Hoock is the new Innovation Lead of the Pfizer Healthcare Hub Berlin
The Berlin Hub has a new face: since October, Maja Hoock has been leading the Pfizer Healthcare Hub Berlin. There she is responsible for topics related to digital patient care: together with her team and the Pfizer network, she supports young companies through collaborations to bring digital health applications such as wearables and apps to patients. Her goal: demonstrable health benefits through digitally supported patient care.
PR manager, marketing expert and digital journalist with a technology background: Maja Hoock brings an open and experienced view of digitalization. At Ottobock, world market leader for AI-controlled prostheses and exoskeletons, she designed strategies in close collaboration with internal startups as Manager Corporate Communications R&D. As a science journalist, she reported on innovations in MedTech and startups for ZDF and rbb among others. As founder & CEO of an agency and think tank for digital transformation, her focus was on concepts between institutions and technology. Digital transformation is a matter of the heart for her: "The concrete benefit of technology for people becomes particularly clear when it can contribute to a healthier and, in the best case, even longer life – for example, when a wearable warns of heart problems or an app helps people quit smoking. Not to mention huge potential in the diagnostics space."
As Innovation Lead of the Pfizer Healthcare Hub Berlin, she is responsible for bringing digital products to doctors and patients together with startups, spin-offs and tech companies. "I'm excited to shape tomorrow's healthcare in such a central role," says Maja Hoock. Her main topics are health apps and wearables – so for all questions around Digital Therapeutics (DTx), Maja Hoock is the right contact!
Three questions to Maja Hoock:
What is your very personal goal as hub chief?
Maja Hoock: Germany is taking a pioneering role with regard to digital health applications (DiGAs): DiGAs are reimbursed by health insurers – if they are proven to work. My goal is to help launch helpful apps and wearables and to make greater use of digital opportunities in the health sector. In this way, we can generate valuable insights and data as a "pilot hub" that will later benefit the other countries in similar models.
What is your drive in the area of digital patient solutions?
Maja Hoock: Over the last few years, I've seen the wonderful opportunities that digital solutions offer to help patients live healthier, more active lives. For example, there are devices that help people with heart problems prevent strokes, or database solutions to diagnose rare diseases faster. Digital technology can save lives, prolong them or make them more livable. Many young companies have innovative ideas that can actually help people – but not the means to position themselves successfully on the market. The Pfizer Healthcare Hub fills this gap.
What are the big topics you want to work on with your team?
Get in touch with Maja HoockMaja Hoock: We want to actively shape the cross-divisional digital transformation at Pfizer and promote applications "around the pill" in close exchange with the specialist departments. In this way, we support patients with new technologies and open up new business areas at the same time. We want to be the first point of contact for all business units in their search for digital support for their medicines. At the same time, we want to be the first point of contact for healthcare startups looking for a strong cooperation partner.
Together for new perspectives: de:hub 5-HT new in our partner network!
In order to be strong and internationally and cross-industry well-connected for our current and potential innovators at all times, we are now an industrial partner of the globally active digital hub 5-HT – we are proud of this access to our network, and cordially invite our network partners to benefit from it.
Our common basis: locally anchored, active nationwide, globally active
As part of the Digital Hub Initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and one of 12 active de:hubs nationwide, 5-HT supports tech startups and companies in realizing digital innovations: As a central platform, the Digital Hub offers players the opportunity to network, cooperate and co-develop. For companies like Pfizer that are looking for collaborations with innovative startups, but also for startups looking to collaborate with a strong industry partner, the 5-HT ecosystem is the place to be: The network spans 50 countries and includes over 320 startups and is the fastest growing ecosystem for digital health and chemistry in Europe. The partnership between Pfizer and 5-HT is a win-win situation: "The strength of our ecosystem lies in the strength of our partners. As we constantly grow our global ecosystem to connect the dots, Pfizer will be an integral part to drive digital innovation for the healthcare industry", so Lisa Tschalenko, Senior Ecosystem Managerin Digital Health & Pharma.
Benefits for startups and companies
5-HT offers startups access to companies in the healthcare and chemical industries through networking and targeted coaching. In addition to regular events and targeted scouting, corporate partners such as the Pfizer Healthcare Hub also benefit from the expertise of other network partners: In the Innovators Club, the players of the chemical and healthtech industry exchange ideas on cutting-edge technologies, current trends and topics, and there is also an opportunity for cross-industrial exchange. For the Pfizer Healthcare Hub, it is particularly interesting that the 5-HT network extends to patient-centered solutions as well as to production and sustainability.
Stefan Kohl, Managing Director 5-HT Digital Hub Chemistry & Health: “Pfizer’s willingness to transform, cocreate and innovate in both digital patient solutions but also their production facilities in the pharmaceutical industry together with our global 5-HT ecosystem, create a win-win situation. We are excited to accompany you on this journey and bring our expertise throughout the whole value chain, starting from smart production, sustainability, and digital health & pharma!"
We at the Pfizer Healthcare Hub are delighted to have this strong partner at our side, who supports us in our mission: to optimize production processes and develop solutions for improved patient care through digital technologies.
Read more about the Digital Hub for Chemistry & Health 5-HT
Networking is the key to success: Three take-aways from the DiGA event of BadenCampus
Where do we stand after about two years of reimbursable health applications? How will the market for DiGAs develop in the future? The DiGA event of BadenCampus offered valuable insights into the DiGAs and offered a platform for exchange and networking. Thorsten Mintel, Director Customer Operations at Pfizer, used Pfizer's cooperation with Alex Therapeutics to show what a cocreate partnership between Pfizer and a DiGA startup can look like. An overview of three important take-aways.
On Wednesday, 26 October, experts from different fields and countries came together online to inform about digital health applications (DiGAs), answer questions and exchange ideas. Malaika Lauk, Senior Consultant from BadenCampus, opened the event as a platform for this. We have summarized three important learnings of the event:
1. The German Fast-Track process is a success story
Ann-Katrin Weigand, Senior Insights Manager at Flying Health, gave some precious insights into the reimbursable DiGA market. Nice to know: After about 2 years of DiGA Fast Track procedure, 34 DiGAs are listed in the DiGA directory of the BfArM. She explained how the DiGA-Fast-Track works and emphasized: "The DiGA-Fast Track is a huge achievement that works so well that it has already met with interest in Europe and is to be adapted by the first countries," said Ann-Katrin Weigand.
2. Medical apps will continue to gain in importance
Thanks to the Digital Care Act (DVG), Germany is a leader in digital patient-oriented eHealth solutions. Apps will continue to gain massive importance in the medical device market – both Benjamin Klein from seleon and Thorsten Mintel, Director Customer Operations at Pfizer, presented studies on this. Thorsten Mintel estimated the potential of the DTx market in Germany at up to 3.5 billion euros on the basis of a study carried out by Roland Berger in 2020.
3. The key to funding, guidance and know-how is networking
For startups and companies, the path to inclusion in the DiGA directory is paved with some challenges: How do you find access to funding, where do you find stakeholders? And who pays the refund? "The process of inclusion in the DIGA directory is a challenge for startups who need to know exactly what their role is," says Peter Neske, Innovation Lead at Pfizer Healthcare Hub Freiburg. "But the good thing is that there are many kinds of suitable assistance," says Neske.
Sebastian Meuer from Innovation in Health put it in a nutshell: "It's simple: Ask! Use the networks and get in touch with the ecosystem!" Malaika Lauk from BadenCampus also emphasized the importance of two-way communication between the actors: "In order to realize the enormous potential of Digital Health applications, it is important to exchange information with stakeholders. Thus to improve our ability to accurately diagnose and treat diseases and improve healthcare for individuals: Together for more health!"
We are also proud that we live a resilient relationship with the high-tech nation Israel: Charme Rykower from the German-Israel Chamber of Commerce and Yoav Fisher from the HealthIL Israel Innovation Institute cordially invited to use their outstanding network.
The team of the Pfizer Healthcare Hub would like to thank BadenCampus for this successful event and is proud to be able to enrich the innovation network: We offer DiGA manufacturers access to the Pfizer expert network – they can, for example, assist with inclusion in the DiGA directory, support price negotiations or much more.
Get in touch with the Pfizer Healthcare Hub