Republish from the special edition of Nextdeal (Issue 560)

By Anthi Aggelopoulou

The big bet of the government currently, is the implementation of Artificial Intelligence in the Health sector. Wearable technological tools for blood sugar control, applications such as MyHealthapp for an advanced patient file, digital exchange of information among structures, drones for sending medicines to remote destinations, electronic bracelets for monitoring patients in Emergency Departments, electronic scanning of medicines through the European EMVO control platform, in order to ensure the safe trafficking of all pharmaceutical products, are some of the reforms that have already been initiated.

According to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Artificial Intelligence is a revolution that will turn everything upside down, while the government considers it as a very big opportunity for the country, to make growth leaps and outdistance other countries, which are ahead of us, simply because they had the opportunity to invest more resources. As he recently announced: “The AI ​​Act, the new regulation for the arrangement of Artificial Intelligence, is a field of intense consultation at the moment in Europe and our country wants to actively participate”.

Experts agree that new technologies will play an important role in Healthcare services, however, the solutions offered by the companies manufacturing these technologies, will not be constructive if they are not embraced by the scientific community and adequately funded by the state.

The future in the hands of startups

A striking example is Envolve Entrepreneurship, which announced the launch of medagoraXL, a new Startup Support Program concerning the Health Technology sector. Since its founding in 2021, it has offered more than 6 million Euros to 37 businesses, activating in 20 different sectors, contributing to the creation of more than 2.000 working positions, while their valuation today exceeds 1,2 billion Euros.

The University of Athens also established a startup, paving the way for personalized health recommendations. This is GENOSOPHY®, which has developed a machine learning algorithm, capable of integrating and evaluating hundreds of thousands of DNA elements, providing personalized recommend-dations for health improvement.

Another standout achievement is the digital platform GrandMama, which connects families with trusted caregivers, offering personalized home care for the elderly and people with disabilities.

Also, the Greek biotechnology company ResQBiotech, a spin-off company of the National Research Foundation (NRF), applies innovative biotechnological approaches for the discovery and preclinical development of drugs against protein misfolding diseases, such as Alzheimer, Parkinson, myotrophic lateral sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, systemic amyloidosis, etc.

Another medical technology start-up is PD Neurotechnology, with its main product PDMonitor®, a portable device with CE class IIa Certification, which constantly monitors the full range of movement symptoms of Parkinson's patients.

However, pilot tests have also been launched by the University Hospitals of Thessaloniki, through EMMA, which was supported by an EIT Health Program and the SymbIASIS Program (Connecting Hospitals and Startups), which was developed in order to address the reduction of patient waiting time.

Finally, at the JOIST Innovation Park in Larissa, a European Digital Innovation Hub has been created for the Digital Transformation of the Healthcare Sector through Artificial Intelligence applications, bringing together 26 leading organizations with extensive experience in AI, advanced health and pharmaceutical research, drug design and retargeting, etc.

ReBrain Greece is the solution

However, nothing will be possible if Greece does not manage to reverse the brain drain of scientists who have left the country in recent years. The government is betting on Brain ReGain, since now a dynamic ecosystem of startup businesses is being created, which have stock options in their remuneration models (the possibility of participating in profits), making employment extremely attractive, while strong tax incentives are also provided.

Read below the article from the special edition of Nextdeal (Issue 560) in electronic form pages 80 (click down below right to zoom in)