From November 16 – 19, 2020, the world-leading medical trade fair MEDICA and the international No. 1 trade fair for the medical manufacturing supply market COMPAMED, will for the first time be held entirely online as virtual.MEDICA and virtual.COMPAMED. The innovations from about 1,400 exhibitors from 56 countries will be complemented by a diverse and wide ranging program at https://virtual.medica-tradefair.com/ and https://virtual.compamed-tradefair.com. The two online trade fairs will consist of three central areas: The Conference Area (conference and forum program), the Exhibition Space (exhibitor and product innovations) and the Networking Plaza (networking/matchmaking). For free online visitor registration:

https://tinyurl.com/y5roryme

Extensive Program in the Conference Area

A four-hour German stream and a six-hour English stream with a total of 400 speakers in 321 individual program events, will run in the Conference Area on each day of the trade fair starting at 10:00 am CET. One highlight will be the on the first day (November 16) at 3:00 pm CET in the German stream of the MEDICA ECON FORUM when Jens Spahn, German Federal Minister of Health, will discuss the outlook for healthcare policy with Jens Baas, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Techniker Krankenkasse, a German health insurance fund.

The highlights on the second day will include the finale of the 9th MEDICA Start-up COMPETITION (November 17 at 2:10 pm CET). Within the scope of the MEDICA CONNECTED HEALTHCARE FORUM, the creative founder scene will pitch their developments within the fields of apps, diagnostics, robotics and artificial intelligence solutions for the healthcare sector.

Laboratory medicine plays a special role in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. virtual.MEDICA will address this with the MEDICA LABMED FORUM in the Conference Area. On the third day (November 18 at 12:10 pm CET), Prof. Hendrik Streeck will be among the speakers in the English language session about the current developments in SARS-CoV-2 testing (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2).

The sessions on the final day (November 19) will focus on technical development trends. The MEDICA TECH FORUM, organized by the two trade association German Association for Electromedical Technology (ZVEI) and SPECTARIS, will discuss ““Hygienic design and antimicrobial technology in medical products for preventing infection” (at 11:00 am CET).

The Conference Area will also feature program streams for the military medicine conference DiMiMED, the MEDICINE + SPORTS CONFERENCE and the 43rd German Hospital Conference.

Online showrooms in the Exhibition Space

The combined exhibitor database for virtual.MEDICA and virtual.COMPAMED is already online in the Exhibition Space. It offers access to the online showrooms from the 1,400 companies. The Casio technology group will take part in MEDICA for the first time. The company’s development engineers have used their expertise in image processing technology for the medical sector and they will present a medical camera created specifically for use in dermatological settings (to record sections of skin close-up and in normal range).

LG Electronics is predominantly focusing on outputting medical imaging data. The company will present monitors with incredibly high resolutions which can be used in surgery or for diagnostic purposes (e.g. for mammography). “They can be used in home offices as well. Then we can do screening outside clinics and practices via teleradiology if we have the right technical equipment”, said Nils Becker-Birck, Director of IT Solutions for DACH at LG Electronics Europe. “MEDICA has become a fixed date in the calendar every year for us. Many of the elements that make MEDICA so special can now also be seen online, thanks to the technical infrastructure of Messe Düsseldorf. We’re very pleased to be able to present new solutions and find opportunities to experience the technology live with interested parties in the weeks and months following the event”, added Nils Becker-Birck.

Microtechnology for fighting COVID-19

Innovations that can help to overcome the pandemic quickly and effectively are the focus at virtual.COMPAMED for the supplier market for medical manufacturing. A large number of companies from the microtechnology sectors are active here. Many of them are members of the IVAM Association for Microtechnology. This Association will organize the English-language HIGH-TECH FORUM in the Conference Area of virtual.COMPAMED and will hold their own session entitled “The Fight Against Coronavirus” (November 17 at 2:00 PM CET). In this context, microfluidics is a core technology for advancing reliable and inexpensive rapid test procedures or point-of-care diagnostics. Microfluidic systems have many advantages, especially short analysis time, reduction of production costs and low consumption of samples or reagents. All points that play a major role in the fight against the pandemic. For example, automated analysis equipment is a prerequisite for extensive testing capacities with regard to the novel Coronavirus. Through parallel and faster processes, automation significantly increases the number of tests, saves personnel and ensures process reliability.


virtual.COMPAMED comes at just the right time for Dr. Thomas Dietrich, Executive Director of the IVAM: “We have not had any trade fairs at all for a long time, and therefore no opportunity to talk to the exhibitors and visitors. This is now finally possible and we at IVAM are looking forward to everyone discussing with us, whether it is about new products and processes or research that has been done during the COVID-19 period.”


For further information about virtual.MEDICA and virtual.COMPAMED, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America; Telephone: (312) 781-5180; E-mail: info@mdna.com; Visit https://virtual.medica-tradefair.com/ and https://virtual.compamed-tradefair.com and www.mdna.com; Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/mdnachicago