Contest for Innovations: „We Want to Achieve Something on the Market “

Growing markets, more and more jobs – these are just two attributes describing medical technology. Making sure that the situation remains like this, the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) supports the innovation potential of the sector with a special competition that honors the winners with an award for innovation. 08/12/2008

Professor Frieder Meyer-Krahmer;
© Innovationsforum

MEDICA.de talked to Professor Frieder Meyer-Krahmer, state secretary at the BMBF, about the aims and future of the award.


MEDICA.de: Mister Meyer-Krahmer, what is the competition about?

Frieder Meyer-Krahmer: The contest is part of a high-tech-strategy of the federal government and should support the progression of medical technology in Germany. The BMBF initiated the contest for the first time in 1999 and since then outstanding innovative ideas in research and development received support from the initializing idea up to the launch of a new product.


MEDICA.de: The contest has reached the age of ten this year. What has been accomplished until now?

Meyer-Krahmer: The contest proved its worth. During the last ten years we have received around a thousand applications and we chose 112 winners, who were supported very effectively with their research. Altogether, 87 percent of them reached their scientific-technical goal which means that the innovative ideas resulted in products for patients.


MEDICA.de: What is the aim of the contest?

Meyer-Krahmer: Our aim is very precise: we want to achieve something on the market. The contest shortens the time until products are being introduced to the market and the time for development has been cut in half. On top of that, the contest has considerably mobilized synergies.


MEDICA.de: That means?

Meyer-Krahmer: It means the contest brings economy and science together thus creating new alliances. They then can serve as an example for further projects.


MEDICA.de: What is planned for the future in the BMBF?

Meyer-Krahmer: We have a lot in mind. Next year, we plan to invest 880 million Euros in research for the healthcare sector. Beyond that, we prepare something called the medical technology action plan that is supposed to support research politics even more intensively since it is of utmost importance to support research in medical technology because this area still employs people instead of reducing the workforce.

The Interview was conducted by Kathrin Burghof.
MEDICA.de