The Hungarian Medical Cluster

Ever since the formation of the Hungarian Medical Cluster it has set the objective to develop the sector by the means of networking, with the collaboration of the still Hungarian-owned fragmented businesses, universities, research institutes of the domestic medical technology sector, taking into account the current industrial policy objectives. The healthcare industry includes curative-preventive and rehabilitation services, service providing and background sectors, the researches underlying them, the manufacturing and marketing of products relating to health-conscious lifestyle. This sector is one of the most promising opportunities among the tipping points. The healthcare industry corresponds to each national economic priority, as it has quite innovative and research-intensive areas, it has significant, partially unexploited opportunities in foreign markets, and it has a substantial labour base which can be further expanded. Within the Hungarian innovation the medical device industry has always played a major role. This is demonstrated by the grand prizes won by the large enterprises of the sector. Several large-scale research projects, amounting to billions of forints, have started in the “homecare” device category with the cooperation of SMEs and multinational companies. Unique solutions have been created in the field of large-value digital diagnostic technology. The Hungarian medical devices are available in each continent, including the Antarctica. The Hungarian medical technology industry is too fragmented and poor in capital for a really fast development. It is indispensable to focus and facilitate the activities, to establish close collaboration with knowledge centres (Universities of Medicine and Technology) and enhanced development market cooperation. In the Irinyi Plan, the government specifies the healthcare industry as a priority area to be developed and as a competitive sector providing high added value, including the dynamically developing innovative domestic medical equipment and device manufacturing, the primary professional representative of which is the Hungarian Medical Cluster.