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 Maastricht, the Netherlands -
The Maastricht University Medical Centre (UMC+), University Medical Center Aachen (UKA)
and Royal Philips Electronics N.V. have today
announced that they are to set up a strategic
partnership, the aim of which is to pool their
knowledge, expertise and experience in the field of
healthcare. The planned cooperation will make it
possible for new scientific findings to be made
available more quickly for routine application in
hospitals, thus benefiting patients. The
universities of Aachen and Maastricht are also
supporting the initiative.
Among others, Prof. Henning Saß and Guy Peeters MD,
chairmen of the Boards of Management of the Aachen
and Maastricht medical centers respectively, Dr.
Henk van Houten, head of the Healthcare Research
Program at Philips Research, and Jochen Franke, CEO
Philips Healthcare DACH (Germany, Austria and
Switzerland), signed a letter of intent at the
‘Biomedica 2008’ international Life Science Summit
in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The signing took
place in the presence of Mrs M. van der Hoeven and
Mrs C. Thoben, Ministers of Economic Affairs for the
Netherlands and the German federal state of
North-Rhine Westphalia respectively, and Prof.
Andreas Pinkwart, Minister for Research and
Innovation in North-Rhine Westphalia.
Philips and the two university medical centers
intend to work closely together and to combine their
advanced clinical knowledge and research
specifically in the fields of cardiovascular disease
and cancer treatment. Their cooperation will cover
the research, development and application of new
diagnostic and treatment methods. Among other
things, the partners’ aim is to set up a joint
research program in the field of medical imaging
technology.
“Shortages in the labor market and increasing
competition in the healthcare sector are making it
increasingly important to set up international joint
ventures to ensure that we can continue bringing
about the necessary innovation. National boundaries
should not be a barrier to this,” says G. Peeters
MD, chairman of the Board of Management of the
Maastricht UMC+.
Prof. Henning Saß, chairman of the Board of
Management of the University Clinic in Aachen
comments, “This will benefit both the patient and
the participating partners, because it will enable
us all to strengthen our European and international
competitive position.”
Dr. Henk van Houten, Senior Vice President Philips
Research, who is in charge of the healthcare
research program at Philips Research, adds, “This
alliance will give rise to advanced clinical care,
as well as ground-breaking clinical research to find
an integrated approach to diagnosis and therapy for
cancer and cardiovascular disease. The opportunity
to work together with highly reputable academic
partners in order to link clinical research and
healthcare to the application of new medical
technologies represents a very exciting prospect for
Philips.”
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