These were the words of Michal Šteffl, Head of International Sales at TestLine, who summed up the participation of BioVendor Group companies at the most important event in the MENA region.
The most prominent exhibition and congress in the Middle East and North Africa region, focusing on the latest diagnostic devices, equipment, innovations, and solutions in all areas of the medical laboratory industry.
Medlab as a standalone event
Just this year, the 22nd edition of Medlab Middle East attracted a record number of visitors and exhibitors to the Dubai metropolis. The organizers responded to the unprecedented demand by moving the previously co-hosted Arab Health fair to an earlier date, and Medlab returned to the Dubai World Trade Centre as a standalone event in the second week of February.
Not only the exhibition but also the professional congress
The exhibition focusing on high-performance solutions and advanced laboratory technology was held under the theme of „Paving the way for technological advancements and sustainability in laboratory medicine“. Under the same theme a professional congress was held, including 12 accredited conferences in various areas of laboratory medicine. The sustainability was also in focus when all medical diagnostic laboratories in the UAE were invited to take part in the Lab Sustainability Awards. The shortlisted entries were PHC Laboratories, the Dubai Blood Donation Centre, and Dubai Police Laboratory, which was in the end awarded the gold award.
BioVendor Group at Medlab 2023
Record attendance numbers
Great attention was paid to the presentation of exhibiting companies, which this year even doubled in number. Over the space of six exhibition halls, 750 exhibitors from 48 countries presented the best of today’s laboratory medicine throughout 4 days. And there were plenty of attendees - almost 30,000 visitors from 300 countries passed through the gates of the exhibition centre. Kristýna Brožová, Product Manager at BioVendor – Laboratorní medicína, confirms these statistics: ”The number of visitors to this year’s Medlab clearly surpassed the previous years. We agreed on this with several suppliers. Moreover, the mix of exhibitors was more interesting for me personally than at Medica trade fair, there were no big players missing. At Medica I registered many POCT analyzers, but here at Medlab small CLIA analyzers definitely prevailed.”
Stand Z5.D30 in the centre of interest
For the BioVendor Group sales representatives, the exhibition stand Z5.D30. became a temporary shelter and a place where it really lived for four days. At the very centre of event, in the middle of exhibition halls 4, 5, and 6 in close proximity to the most important players in the diagnostic sector, our group’s stand shone. Design exposition dressed in our traditional white and yellow combination served for a continuous series of meetings, scheduled or unplanned appointments, and making new contacts. “Finally, we were happy to see so many of our partners in person after two years of the pandemic. We had many good discussions and received a lot of valuable feedback, which we really appreciate. The trust we get from our partners and collaborators is very motivating,” explains Anna Malolepszy, Product Specialist NGS from ViennaLab. Michal Šteffl confirms her words: “I attribute the great interest mainly to consolidating our position in these markets, whether by deepening relationships and trust with our local partners or also thanks to new products and projects.”
The key projects in the spotlight
The presentation of our key projects was dominated by CLIA technology in the form of the KleeYa® analyzer located at the front of the stand. Visitors could literally touch the fully automated solution and some partners came specifically just for that. Other key projects also found their audience. “After the initial familiarisation with our offerings in the past years and building trust in our products, we perceive a significantly higher interest and demand for Microblot-Array technology, which is becoming quite popular here. Several existing end-users and even representatives of other institutions that are yet to use our products stopped by. We also had visits from Europe,” Michal Šteffl agrees.
Anna Malolepszy has also seen interest in the field of molecular diagnostics: “We can definitely see the increase in the interest in NGS technology but also in PCR-based assays.” Jiří Brzobohatý, Business Development Manager at BioVendor MDx, agrees: “Yes, I registered the greatest interest in MDx products with NGS technology, but the visitors also asked about miRNA or LAMP solutions.”
See you again next year!
For our BioVendor Group team, Medlab always means four challenging days, filled with a lot of meetings, but in the spirit of a friendly atmosphere and warm welcome. We still have lots of work to do, but we are looking forward to the next year. Save the date! The next year Medlab Middle East 2024 will take place from 5 to 8 February 2024!
