[Press Release]

Bavaria's Minister of Health Judith Gerlach visited MLL to find out about current trends and topics in technology-supported diagnosis and therapy

Munich, 20.03.2024 - Judith Gerlach, Bavaria's Minister of State for Health, Care and Prevention, visited the MLL Munich Leukaemia Laboratory on 19 March 2024 and spoke with the management about digitalization, automation and networking in the healthcare sector as part of a tour of the laboratory followed by a discussion.

The founders and managing directors of MLL - Prof. Dr. med. Torsten Haferlach, Prof. Dr. med. Claudia Haferlach and Prof. Dr. med. Wolfgang Kern - personally welcomed Minister of State Judith Gerlach, presented the laboratory and the affiliated medical care center MLL MVZ in detail and entered into a joint dialogue about current opportunities and challenges from the health policy, health economy and technological environment. Recent developments such as the Health Data Usage Act, the European AI Act and the European Health Data Space EHDS were discussed, as well as current digitalization and innovation topics - and the question of how the use of health data for research purposes can be designed efficiently, responsibly and without barriers to innovation. The use of AI and big data in medicine and the outlook for the Bavarian Cloud for Health Research were also discussed with Minister Gerlach.

Bavaria's Health Minister Judith Gerlach emphasized: "An important key to an efficient healthcare system lies in digitalization. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers huge opportunities here: AI can help in medicine to diagnose diseases, develop medicines or personalize treatments and thus increase the quality of care." The Minister added: "The basis for this is high-quality, structured data. That is why Bavaria is actively and constructively supporting the establishment of the European Health Data Space. This can then be used throughout the EU for better care, research and innovation. How AI and big data can be used for very fast and accurate diagnoses and the best possible therapy tailored to patients in the field of leukemia and lymphoma is impressively demonstrated."

"At MLL, diagnostics, processes and treatment are already being purposefully supported by AI, big data and automation - not to replace specialist staff, but to relieve them and counter the shortage of specialists, as well as to reduce the potential for errors and optimize both the speed and quality of diagnoses and treatment," explains MLL Managing Director Prof. Dr. med. Torsten Haferlach. "Of course, we are concerned with the question of the right framework conditions. Bavaria's Minister of Health, Judith Gerlach, has already presented her programmatic priorities. We expressly welcome the digital offensive contained therein in the interests of a future-oriented healthcare industry for the benefit of patients. We are also following the progress of the Bavarian Cloud for Health Research BCHR outlined with great interest."

With state-of-the-art equipment, comprehensive analysis methods at the cutting edge of science and the use of the latest technologies including artificial intelligence and machine learning, the MLL sees itself as a pioneer for optimal diagnostics and therapy. With over 330 employees, the laboratory currently processes around 125,000 samples a year. Since its foundation, more than 1.15 million samples have been sent in by patients, more than 2.5 million reports have been produced and over 750 peer-reviewed publications have been authored or co-authored. At the MLL MVZ itself, hematologists treat over 5,000 patients per year for diagnostics, therapy and second opinion consultations. In the "TOP 100 Innovation" competition for SMEs, the MLL took first place in the "over 200 employees" category in 2023 and was nominated for the 6th time in 2024. It was also among the finalists for the "EY Entrepreneur Of The Year" award in 2023. MLL also achieved a top ranking among the 100 most innovative SMEs in Germany according to Munich Strategy and WirtschaftsWoche.