Luxembourg’s early life science ecosystem
In 2008, the Luxembourg government launched the ‘Life Sciences and Health Technologies Action Plan’ to help boost support for the life sciences and healthtech sectors. The plan aimed to capitalize on the strong potential of novel biomedicine solutions to diversify the Grand Duchy’s economy.
“Luxembourg was known for financing, for industry, and for metallurgy, but we were not known for life science,” says Jean-Paul Scheuren, CEO of the House of BioHealth and administrator of the future Health and Advanced Lifescience (HE:AL) campus, a site of 2.4 hectares based in Esch-sur Alzette scheduled for construction in 2026. “We had to embark on ambitious projects, alongside attracting big talents in new fields of life sciences research, to get ourselves on the map,” Scheuren explains.
“We had to embark on ambitious projects, alongside attracting big talents in new fields of life sciences research, to get ourselves on the map” – Jean-Paul Scheuren
This early investment has now cemented Luxembourg’s reputation as one of Europe’s premier life science hubs with a global reach, thanks to the support given to develop numerous research centers of excellence and innovation hubs. This growing infrastructure now attracts scientists and startup companies from around the world while enabling increased collaboration and knowledge transfer between scientists with diverse skill sets.
Life sciences in Luxembourg’s Health Valley
Exemplifying this collaborative ecosystem is the so-called ‘Health Valley,’ spanning from Esch-sur-Alzette to Diekirch. The Health Valley boasts world-class research institutes, including the Luxembourg Institute of Health, the University of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, multiple interdisciplinary centers, including the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine and the Luxembourg Clinical and Translational Research Centre, alongside four main hospitals. This extensive clinical and research network provides streamlined opportunities for researchers and startups to access real-world health-related data, crucial for the next innovation or therapeutic breakthrough.
Primed for the digital healthtech future
Luxembourg’s extensive digital infrastructure is also an enviable asset in the big data, personalized healthcare era. Luxembourg was ranked number two in the 2021 global digital readiness index, has extensive national electronic medical records, and is home to MeluXina, one of the most powerful high performance computing clusters in Europe.
These digital-focused accolades are acknowledged by the Luxembourg government, who recently reiterated their commitment to becoming a leading European hub for the development, evaluation, and adoption of digital health technologies.
Scheuren explains that the coordination between different governmental departments, including the Ministry of Research and Higher Education, Ministry of Health and Social Security, Ministry of the Economy, and the Ministry for Digitalization, is essential to achieve these goals and to realize the potential of digital healthcare and healthtech as one of the economic pillars of Luxembourg. “Everybody is working in the same way to prepare the landscape for the larger acceptance of secondary usage of patient data and the integration of digital medical applications in the healthcare system,” says Scheuren.
A place to HE:AL
At the forefront of this vision is the HE:AL campus project, which aims to ‘become a globally recognized, interconnected campus, and a world-class health science hub where data-driven companies thrive.’ The campus also aims to have a positive impact on the planet and people, with sustainability at its core. “The site is an ancient industrial site where we aim to bring back nature. We start out with zero biodiversity, but we will increase it with the growth of a forest in a living campus,” explains Scheuren.
HE:AL will be a platform for mature companies, but also an accelerator and supportive environment for digital healthtech startups where expert advice will be provided to overcome regulatory, legal, and financial hurdles. Scheuren indicates that the concept of the HE:AL campus is to ‘attract companies that want to go fast in the market and bring new solutions to patients as fast as possible.’
Proof-of-concept for the approach envisioned with the HE:AL campus has been provided by the House of BioHealth, inaugurated in 2015 and now comprising three buildings. “The House of BioHealth showed that it can be done, that we can attract companies, that as private investors, we can work together with the government to make positive projects happen while attracting the best talents with the right infrastructure and concepts,” explains Scheuren.
He also highlights how the 4P’s approach to healthcare – preventative, predictive, personalized, and participative – is already shaping the HE:AL campus, thanks to the high level of participation across sectors. “It’s fantastic to see this participative approach really working. People left behind their own views and everybody is working on the same track to put this into place… It’s not only buildings, it’s a real concept of where we want to grow in healthcare and in life sciences.”
Overall, thanks to positive and participative action at all stakeholder levels, Luxembourg’s growing life science ecosystem is primed to tackle our most pressing healthcare challenges. A forward-thinking, digital healthtech revolution awaits.
