Reflections from HLTH Europe
A couple of weeks on from the inaugural HLTH Europe in Amsterdam (pronounced “health”) and the Hardian team have had a chance to reflect on the experience. Europe’s largest health innovation event definitely brought the Vegas vibes across the pond but if you didn’t make it this year, here’s a roundup of 5 of our key takeaways:
Have we officially reached the trough of disillusionment for LLMs in healthcare? While there were still a few bold CEOs claiming to be getting an LLM medical device through regulations before the end of the year, the general feeling amongst the varied panel members and informal conversations was one of scepticism about the benefits and safety of using LLMs in healthcare. Notably, a panel of VCs, moderated by Hardian’s Dr Hugh Harvey, discussed the recent lack of health tech IPOs with high profile firms dropping 95% post-IPO, all predicting that many investors are going to lose a lot of money. A big pivot from the hype of recent years. Eagle eyed readers will have seen more on this in our July newsletter.
Where is the clinical evidence? We noticed a stark lack of clinical evidence being presented. While we’re not saying it isn’t there, it just didn’t appear to be front and centre in the panel discussions and conversations. We at Hardian think it’s pretty important though so we are always on the lookout.
So do you have regulatory approval for that..? While regulations might be a bit of a yawn to most people, it’s also quite important (read: mandatory for all medical devices), hence why we don’t stop talking about it. While there were a few panels discussing various aspects of regulation, such as the DiGA process in Germany, in our opinion there was a noticeable lack of focus on regulation. Perhaps panels on regulations don’t draw a crowd as easily as social media influencers discussing engaging young people via Disney-based TikToks.
We are as sure as ever that safe, effective and cybersecure health tech is the future. It was great to connect with so many enthusiastic and passionate people from across Europe and the globe, working to develop great health tech to help improve patients' lives. It fostered a real sense of collaboration between members of the international community and gives us a lot to be optimistic about.
The HLTH team knows how to put a conference on. Think glitter jackets, Petunia the unicorn mascot, an immersive light show featuring Dutch artists, welcome reception at the Stedelijk museum and 90s British rock band, The Libertines, headlining the final night. It was unlike any other European conference. Do all conferences not have an arts corner with lino printing workshops, air hockey and a salon on the show floor?
Ultimately, the feeling that has stuck is a sense of a coming together of the international health tech community with a common goal of improving the state of healthcare globally and the lives of patients. Repeated several times was the organisers promise to be back bigger and better next year - we’re already looking forward to it.
HLTH Europe is back next year in Amsterdam|16-19th June 2025.
Hardian Health is a clinical digital consultancy focused on leveraging technology into healthcare markets through clinical strategy, scientific validation, regulation, health economics and intellectual property.
