The highly rated Lublin’s healthcare sector is based on the highest quality medical services and developing biotechnology sector, and its driving force is its strong academic background.
There are 13 well-equipped hospitals in the city, including four teaching hospitals of the Medical University, which educate future medical personnel and provide a place to implement unique treatment and diagnostic procedures. The high quality of services and competitive prices in the private sector encourage patients from abroad to visit healthcare centres in Lublin. The sector’s potential is strengthened by a successful cluster of healthcare and health-promotion services which offer a cooperative platform for the university, R&D units and healthcare centres, as well as business entrepreneurs and institutions. The cluster supports R&D activity, cooperation between units, and fosters the high quality of medical services.
The driving force behind the sector is the academic background – future employees of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are educated at four universities. What is more, The Medical University of Lublin is the most popular medical school in Poland among international students from several dozen countries. The implementation of projects with extensive commercial potential is a trademark of Lublin’s universities and research laboratories. The effects of Lublin scientists’ efforts are the invention of artificial bone, a malaria vaccine, the creation of mutanases and ectoine, alongside a number of studies connected with the invention of new drugs, polymers and solutions in energy technology.
Success stories
Medical Inventi – an innovative “artificial bone” from Lublin
FlexiOss bone substitute biocomposite is an innovative material similar in structure and composition to natural bone. It is used in orthopaedic surgery.
Medical Inventi was established in 2012 on the initiative of a group of scientists, private investors and the Medical University of Lublin, to commercialise an invention developed by a scientific team led by Prof. Grażyna Ginalska, Ph.D. with a significant role of Anna Belcarz, PhD. Our FlexiOss bone substitute biocomposite was created in response to the needs of orthopaedists, but it can also be used in dentistry. In the future, it may also be useful in veterinary medicine. It is an innovative product, repeatedly awarded by the presidencies of the most important industry competitions.
Our bone substitute biocomposite is characterised by its composition and microporous structure characteristic for natural bone. After soaking in body fluids, it becomes plastic and surgically handy, and the sugar (curdlan) used in it instead of protein eliminates the risk of rejection. What is more, it turns out that FlexiOss assimilates calcium ions from natural bone, so that it is able to integrate with. The medical community has already approved the product during the testing phase. We see the demand in the European, Arabic and Asian markets.
Lublin is an important medical and scientific centre. Experts from various fields were involved in the commercialization process conducted by Medical Inventi, including a scientific team from the Lublin University of Technology, which developed an innovative machine park for the production of our “artificial bone”. Membership in the Lublin Medicine Cluster, which builds specific know-how and provides a platform for the exchange of experience between companies in the industry, is crucial for us. It also helps to establish key business relations at the national and international level.
Maciej Maniecki
President
Medical Inventi S.A
SDS Optic – fibre optic technology in the fight against cancer
SDS Optic is a research company with a chance to revolutionize cancer diagnostics. Its innovative platform technology arouses interest in the world of science, medicine and media.
SDS Optic was created as a result of the evolution of the fibre optic startup I founded in the United States in 2015. The transfer of the company to Poland two years later was possible thanks to the support of business angels from Lublin and Szczecin. Finally, we chose Lublin due to the Faculty of Chemistry of the Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, where for years the works on the improvement and production of fibre optics have been in progress. From the very beginning, SDS Optic’s core business has been designing and modelling optoelectronic components. A new direction of research appeared when my wife Magdalena, a biotechnology expert, joined the company.
My experience resulting from the cooperation with NASA and my wife’s knowledge and competences acquired at Harvard University confirmed our belief that we can create an innovative, original product on the border of optoelectronics and medicine. Such is undoubtedly the inProbe device. It is a platform technology used to detect breast cancer in women. It allows for painless examination and, what is essential in diagnostics, obtaining a numerical result in real-time. The project turned out to be so innovative that it received the highest funding from NCBiR and the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 project.
SDS Optic is a team of specialists in physics, biology, engineering and medicine. Acquiring the best experts is a challenge for research companies all over the world. We try to attract the most exceptional and most promising talents among graduates and students of Lublin universities, offering them internships during which they can acquire specific, and for us valuable skills. We are also looking for highly qualified staff among those who have left Poland years ago to undertake research activities abroad. Those who hesitate are often persuaded to return to the unique atmosphere and quality of life in Lublin.
Marcin Staniszewski MSc Eng.
Co-Founder, CEO
SDS Optic
Żagiel Med – a cutting-edge medical facilityBioMaxima – representative of the medical laboratory diagnostics market
What distinguishes Żagiel Med on the healthcare market, at the same time encouraging patients from the whole world to take advantage of the medical services, is an exceptional customer service based on particular respect for the rights and needs of the patient.
Collaboration with leading medical specialists guarantees high health-care quality. The core members of the staff are professionals with many years experience gained at university Teaching Hospitals in Lublin and in leading national medical centres. Hospital staff is recognised for treating patients with respect and friendliness, while the treatment itself is conducted in comfortable conditions with the use of modern equipment. Therefore, Żagiel Med Services are recommended in Poland and abroad, and Lublin’s accessibility leads to a significant increase in the number of patients from Europe, North America, Africa and the Middle East.
Żagiel Med is a well-established and development-oriented company. One of its elements is improving the competitiveness of Lublin medical services market by collaborating with the city and other stakeholders as a part of the Cluster of Lublin Medicine. It is a communication platform used by medical centres, universities, research institutes, business environment, and local government. Moreover, it constitutes an integration mechanism that allows to establish the brand of Lublin healthcare sector and to promote local entities in Poland and abroad. Joint business and marketing initiatives presenting international competitiveness of Lublin medical companies count among tangible results of cluster’s activities, which are well beyond the capabilities of individual players.
The high quality of services and putting patient’s welfare always first allowed us to reach the strong position on the market of commercial medical services within a short period. Current market position and collaboration with the city as a part of the Cluster enable us to look to the future with confidence and to promote our offer globally.
BioMaxima was founded in Lublin and has been developing together with the city, thanks to it having the optimum conditions for the biotechnology sector.
We started as a small company founded by people with a background in biotechnology and medicine. Since the very beginning, our development has had two different ways: implementing proprietary products, expanding our portfolio with products by renowned international manufacturers and building relationships with customers on the one hand, and acquiring and investing in other companies, resulting in our debut on the NewConnect market in 2010, on the other. One year later, we opened our new headquarters and production plant within the Special Economy Zone in Lublin; facilities we are planning to expand by adding an R&D Centre. After nearly two decades [in business], we have reached the level of supplying top quality products to thousands of laboratories in Poland and abroad.
Our products are available in over 50 countries worldwide, both in Europe – Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia – and also more remote countries, such as Indonesia, Philippines, Iran, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates etc.
The strong development of BioMaxima is supported by the conditions offered by Lublin to the sectors of biotechnology and medicine. Scientific resources, in the form of five high schools with curricula entailing biotechnology, biomedical engineering and medical analytics, provide both potential employment and R&D opportunities. We also enjoy the strong support of the local government, resulting in two actively operating clusters – biotechnology and medicine.
Local authorities also promote Lublin-basedcompanies during their business visits and conventions. The Special Economic Zone is a significant strength of Lublin, as it permits convenient investments, of which we are an example.
Being a local patriot, I hope that the company and the city have years of dynamic growth ahead of them, and that BioMaxima will continue to be one of Lublin’s calling cards.
Dorota Karczewska
President
Żagiel Med Sp. z o.o.
PZ Cormay – globally-renowned biotechnological innovations from Lublin
PZ Cormay has 30 years of experience in the local market, and sends its innovative products from Lublin to customers in over 120 countries.
Today, the Cormay Group is an international biotech company with offices in Warsaw, Geneva, Moscow and Beijing, yet which has its key and most modern departments in Lublin, including production, R&D and supply chain management. The company has an investment to be established in the Lublin Special Economic Zone – a production and logistics centre, intended to provide state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and laboratory reagents for customers around the world.
Lublin is an optimal location for the further international development of the company. The human factor plays an essential role in creating the highest-quality products in the biotechnological industry. Lublin, with his expanded education industry, including universities teaching in the areas of biotechnology and medical diagnostics, gives us access to a wide range of specialists. They form an important pool of personnel to aid our further developmental needs, and an important link in the creation of product innovations.
The nature of our products requires high logistic performance – a condition for operation of the company in the international market. The ability to locate the new factory in a well-located Special Economic Zone and the rapid development of the transport infrastructure in Lublin, especially the airport and road network, aids us in offering even better services to our customers.
Janusz Płocica
President / CEO
PZ Cormay S.A.
BioMaxima – representative of the medical laboratory diagnostics market
BioMaxima was founded in Lublin and has been developing together with the city, thanks to it having the optimum conditions for the biotechnology sector.
We started as a small company founded by people with a background in biotechnology and medicine. Since the very beginning, our development has had two different ways: implementing proprietary products, expanding our portfolio with products by renowned international manufacturers and building relationships with customers on the one hand, and acquiring and investing in other companies, resulting in our debut on the NewConnect market in 2010, on the other. One year later, we opened our new headquarters and production plant within the Special Economy Zone in Lublin; facilities we are planning to expand by adding an R&D Centre. After nearly two decades [in business], we have reached the level of supplying top quality products to thousands of laboratories in Poland and abroad.
Our products are available in over 50 countries worldwide, both in Europe – Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia – and also more remote countries, such as Indonesia, Philippines, Iran, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates etc.
The strong development of BioMaxima is supported by the conditions offered by Lublin to the sectors of biotechnology and medicine. Scientific resources, in the form of five high schools with curricula entailing biotechnology, biomedical engineering and medical analytics, provide both potential employment and R&D opportunities. We also enjoy the strong support of the local government, resulting in two actively operating clusters – biotechnology and medicine.
Local authorities also promote Lublin-basedcompanies during their business visits and conventions. The Special Economic Zone is a significant strength of Lublin, as it permits convenient investments, of which we are an example.
Being a local patriot, I hope that the company and the city have years of dynamic growth ahead of them, and that BioMaxima will continue to be one of Lublin’s calling cards.
Piotr Rubaj
Vice President (in years 2017-2018)
Biomaxima S.A.
