On Thursday 12 January 2023, the final extension of the House of BioHealth (HoBH) was officially inaugurated in the presence of HRH the Hereditary Grand Duke, Ms Paulette Lenert, Minister of Health and Mr Franz Fayot, Minister of the Economy, Ms Simone Asselborn-Bintz, Mr Jeannot Fürpass and Mr Georges Mischo, Mayors of Sanem, Mondercange and Esch respectively as well as the directors of Innovation Cluster, represented by Jean-Paul Scheuren, Romain Poulles and Roby Schintgen.
The HoBH is based on a collaboration between the Ministry of the Economy, private investors and the intermunicipal union in charge of the ZARE industrial zone in Ehlerange.
It serves as a host to innovative companies in the fields of biotechnology and digital health technologies. This facility enables them to be quickly operational in terms of their R&D activities thanks to its convertible laboratories.
Divided over three phases, this project represents an investment of approximately €60 million for a total area of 15,000m².
3 development phases from 2015 to 2023
Buildings I and II, respectively inaugurated in 2015 and 2018, accommodate HealthTech companies – primarily SMEs, as well as some research activities of the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) and the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB). In total, around 450 people work in the facility. The second extension also includes a bioincubator offering close to 350m² of lab space available to receive HealthTech spin-offs and start-ups.
The third and last extension officially inaugurated in January offers 5,000m² of additional space. The premises can now host up to 650 researchers and are now made up of 9,500m² of lab space as well as 5,500m² of office space.
“Campus HE:AL” – expanding the current facilities
PROgroup CEO Romain Poulles took stock of how much progress the upcoming project HE:AL Campus is making during the inauguration ceremony. Unveiled in March 2022 and complementary to the HoBH, this large-scale infrastructure project aims not only to complete existing HealthTech accommodation infrastructures, but also to provide a conducive environment for the development of an innovative HealthTech community on a national scale.
Potentially comprising more than 50,000m² of buildable area, the HE:AL Campus’ aim is also to enable Luxembourg to become a key player in HealthTech innovation by increasing its international attractiveness.
Since the signing of a memorandum of understanding for a leasehold estate involving the project leaders and ZARE in March 2022, followed by the founding of the company “HE:AL Campus SA” in July 2022, an urban planning competition was launched with the aim of drawing the buildings plan. This plan will then be presented to the public and then put to public consultation, involving all the stakeholders in the project, in order to designate its winner.
During the inaugural session, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health, Paulette Lenert highlighted the substantial development of the health and life sciences sector, now considered a thriving industry. Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot stated that the HealthTech sector is a pillar of Luxembourg’s economic diversification strategy and emphasized the HoBH’s key role in ensuring sustainable growth, in particular because it houses key companies under one roof.
The traditional ribbon cutting launching the third and final extension put an end to the inauguration ceremony.
The construction of the HoBH has played a major role in the development of the health technology sector, which is one of the pillars of the country’s economic diversification. It has made it possible to attract many renowned players and ensure the sustainable development of the sector. The creation of the HE:AL Campus is the next key step to sustain the success of the sector in the long run – it will combine the physical and digital worlds and promote networking and access to new services both on a national and international scale.