Two major medical events – united by collaboration

Photo: www.mediaserver.hamburg.de / Geheimtipp Hamburg

Collaboration and connecting the community were the objectives of two global medical events held recently in Hamburg. Hamburg Messe hosted the European Society for Vascular Surgery’s Annual Meeting from 24-27 September and BIO-Europe from 11 – 13 November 2019.

HIGH LEVEL LEARNING AT ESVS

ESVS, the European Society for Vascular Surgery, aims to relieve sickness and to preserve and protect health by advancing, for the public benefit, the science art and research into vascular disease, including vascular surgery. The purpose of the Annual Meeting, organised by PCO Congrex Switzerland and held on 24 – 27 September at Hamburg Messe, was to connect the community of vascular surgeons, sharing expertise and providing learning opportunities. The education programme of more than 60 workshops and seminars covered the entire field of vascular surgery and medicine. The four-day meeting was accompanied by a large exhibition featuring the latest technical innovations in the field of vascular healthcare.

Photos: ESVS

The Annual Meeting took place in Messe Hamburg attracting 1,800 delegates from 80 countries, with the most delegates travelling from Spain, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Russian Federation, Belgium, Denmark and France.

With connecting the community at the top of the agenda, a number of fringe activities were held to engage attendees. A charity run around the Botanical garden Planten un Blomen Park located next to Hamburg Messe attracted 100 participants. The European Vascular Surgeons Training group (for ESVS trainees) held a drinks reception celebrating its 25th anniversary at Braugasthaus Altes Maedchen, Hamburg’s celebrated beer house. Fine-dining restaurant, Au Quai, located along the banks of the famous River Elbe was the venue for the ESVS dinner on the penultimate night.

ONE TO ONE MEETINGS POWER BIO-EUROPE

BIO-Europe is Europe’s largest partnering conference serving the global biotechnology industry. Held every year in collaboration with a regional host at destinations across Europe, the event was organised by PCO EBD Group and returned to Hamburg for the third year. The event, which took place 11 – 13 November 2019 at Hamburg Messe, was powered by pre-arranged one to one meetings for delegates from all parts of the biotechnology value chain. This year´s regional host was, Life Science Nord Hamburg’s cluster for biotech, pharma, and medtech.

This year´s BIO-Europe attracted over 4,000 industry attendees from over 60 countries, representing more than 2,100 companies, for one to one meetings. Around 27,000 meetings took place during the three days of the show. In addition, BIO-Europe offered high level workshops, panels, company presentations, and an exhibition with 130 exhibitors – an increase on the 2018 event.

Over 800 guests attended a welcome reception at Hamburg Messe and 1920s event venue Curio-Haus. A networking reception at Kuppel the following evening hosted 1,800 people.

Photos: Ludwig Schedl / Bio Europe

Life Science Nord worked with the event organisers and the city’s inward investment arm, Hamburg Invest, to connect attendees with the city’s scientific community. They led tours of the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), a national research centre in Germany that operates particle accelerators, and The European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility, both located in the city.

BioTech and pharmaceuticals is a highly innovative field where collaboration is beneficial for progress and Hamburg’s highly connected scientific community played a key role in facilitating this as Pam Putz, Managing Director Europe, EBD Group (the PCO) explains: “We were very happy to bring the event back to Hamburg for the 3rd time, celebrating BIO-Europe’s 25th anniversary. As both ‘Gateway to the world’ and highly regarded life science hub, Hamburg made perfect sense as the location for our event.”

LIFE SCIENCE SECTOR BOOMS IN HAMBURG

Karine Serra, Marketing Manager Conventions at Hamburg Convention Bureau, explains: “Collaboration sits at the heart of a successful event and we were delighted to work with these two major global events and introduce them to our scientific community. Hamburg’s Life Science Cluster is a network of the city’s medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Together they develop diverse and innovative medicine, medical products and services.”

Photo: www.mediaserver.hamburg.de / Geheimtipp Hamburg

The life science sector in Hamburg has rapidly developed in recent years. Life Science Nord, the Life Science Cluster of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, covers medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, research facilities and institutions. The region is home to around 500 companies, research facilities and institutions with a total of 49,900 employees and a gross value added of € 4.3 billion.

Hamburg Convention Bureau and Hamburg Messe supported the application phase of both events through intensive cooperation, coordinated preparation, professional organisation and personal support. This included the provision of contacts, obtaining hotel contingents and facilitating partnerships with key operators in the city such as the public transport network.