On November 25-26, the World Trade Center Moscow hosted the Trade Fair for Medical Technology and Healthcare 2024. The event was organized a part of the «Medical Science for People» federal project and brought together over 500 leading experts from 60 Russian organizations, including developers in the fields of science, technology, medicine, production of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals.
The event aims to facilitate collaboration between Russian scientists, developers and manufacturers of medical devices, in line with one of the core goals set by the President of Russia within the context of the “New Health Saving Technologies” National Project. The distinctive business structure of the event demonstrates a proactive approach to showcasing innovations and fostering promising collaboration between developers and industrial partners. This format of interaction will facilitate the transition of medical science developments from laboratory research to real-world clinical practice.
The opening ceremony of the plenary session started with welcoming remarks from the Minister of Health of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Murashko. In his welcome letter, he stated that the fair is a new and effective platform for collaboration between domestic developers and manufacturers of medical products. He also highlighted the distinctive format of the fair, which he believes is unique in both domestic and international contexts.
The competition saw the participation of 350 projects, 40 of which were announced in person. Evgeny Shlyakhto, Director General of Almazov Centre, provided invaluable support, which enabled the Centre to showcase its cutting-edge scientific developments, including the first Russian-made self-expandable nitinol stent, «Smart Dressing», «Hydrogel Extra» and “Uzor Wound Healing Software”. The developments were presented at the format by Elena Tsvetkova, a researcher at the Research Department of Interventional and Vascular Surgery, headed by Dr. Mikhail Chernyavsky.
Additionally, Polina Popova, Head of Laboratory of Endocrine Diseases in Pregnancy, presented several other developments, including the DiaCompanion Pro mobile app for pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus, the GliomaRiskThrombosis Calculator, the RAS70-based drug for the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours, and a novel CD5-specific chimeric antigen receptor.
The first Russian-made self-expandable nitinol stent was selected as the finalist in the competition and was awarded an honorary diploma in recognition of its success in the reports category. It garnered significant interest from industrial partners due to its uniqueness and the absence of comparable developments in the Russian market. This validates the relevance of the development in the field of vascular surgery and underscores the need for its expedient introduction into clinical practice.
The event also included a patent auction and a master class, which provided participants with insights into the latest trends and developments in the field, as well as an opportunity to establish business contacts with representatives of participating companies.
It is worth noting that the event concept aligns with the selected development strategy and the technological autonomy of Russian medicine, which is based on the integration of science, education, industry and technology. Such events will facilitate collaboration between developers and manufacturers, thereby accelerating the transition of medical science developments into clinical practice.