Medical semiconductors from Silicon Saxony: Innovation Cluster SEMECO enters second funding phase

Secure healthcare solutions, smart platforms, and modular systems are laying the foundation for a new generation of medical innovation. To achieve this, the SEMECO (Secure Medical Microsystems and Communications) innovation cluster is developing medical semiconductors as a key enabling technology for secure, connected, and intelligent medical devices. SEMECO will showcase its latest developments at the Silicon Saxony Days in Dresden from June 15–17, 2026. As part of the Clusters4Future initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), the cluster will receive up to EUR 15 million in funding for its second three-year phase. Since its beginnings, SEMECO has also been supported by the Free State of Saxony, which funds additional regional research and development projects through the EFRE Technology Funding Program 2021–2027.

With the start of its second funding phase, SEMECO is sharpening its focus on standardized medical semiconductor platforms and their transfer into industrial and clinical applications. Medical semiconductors are specialized microsystems that integrate sensing, data processing, secure communications, and AI-enabled functionality tailored specifically to the requirements of medical technology. Based on a modular platform approach, SEMECO develops flexible semiconductor, electronics, and software components that can be securely integrated and continuously advanced. AI-supported methods for certification and regulatory approval are designed to accelerate the adoption of new technologies in medical applications. Potential use cases range from portable ultrasound systems and intelligent vital-sign monitoring sensors to secure communication implants for people with hearing and speech impairments. In doing so, SEMECO addresses key challenges in modern medical technology, including lengthy development cycles, complex regulatory pathways, and the lack of interoperability between medical systems.

“As part of the Silicon Saxony innovation ecosystem, SEMECO connects regional microelectronics expertise across the entire value chain. During the first funding phase, we demonstrated that the close integration of semiconductor and communication technologies can enable entirely new medical applications. In the second funding phase, we are placing an even stronger emphasis on the application, standardization, and commercialization of medical semiconductors,” say cluster speakers Prof. Gerhard Fettweis and Prof. Jochen Hampe. “SEMECO sends a strong signal for Dresden as a center of research and industry and reinforces Saxony’s ambition to strengthen its position as a leading European region for medical microelectronics and smart medical technologies.”

Driving Innovation from Silicon Saxony

To maintain Saxony’s innovative strength, the Free State supports companies and research partners through its technology-neutral and sector-neutral EFRE/JTF funding programs for research, development, and technology transfer. Several R&D projects within the SEMECO innovation cluster are funded by the EFRE Technology Funding Program 2021–2027, while the second funding phase also makes use of the STEP Regulation (Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform). The goal of these projects is to support initiatives in strategically important technology fields for Europe, including digital technologies, deep-tech innovation, and biotechnology, thereby advancing industrial transformation and strengthening Europe’s economic resilience. “SEMECO brings together medicine and microelectronics and is therefore a true innovation driver within Silicon Saxony. The cluster strengthens interdisciplinary collaboration among Saxon start-ups, SMEs, major semiconductor companies, and the region’s research community. In doing so, SEMECO helps overcome the significant barriers to market entry in healthcare and accelerates the transfer of technology-driven innovations from research into application. Breakthrough medical innovations made in Saxony have the potential to improve lives around the world while creating high-quality jobs and complex value creation within the federal state. At the same time, Europe must strengthen its competitiveness through intelligent, globally unique products. The projects within the SEMECO cluster make an important contribution toward that goal,” says Dirk Panter, Saxon State Minister for Economic Affairs, Labor, Energy and Climate Protection.

Frank Bösenberg, Managing Director of Silicon Saxony, adds: “SEMECO demonstrates how Saxony’s microelectronics expertise can be translated into new future markets. The innovation cluster brings together leading research in microelectronics, sensing technologies, communications, artificial intelligence, and medicine into an integrated innovation approach for tomorrow’s digital healthcare. This is of strategic importance for Saxony. For decades, the region’s technological strength has been built on semiconductor development and manufacturing. SEMECO now takes the next decisive step by laying the foundation for a new generation of intelligent cyber-medical systems. Connected implants, secure medical communication solutions, portable diagnostic systems, and medical semiconductor platforms exemplify how microelectronics can create tangible societal value. Particularly compelling is the ambition to address technological innovation, cybersecurity, and regulatory requirements together from the outset. This creates the conditions needed to bring digital medical products into healthcare faster, more safely, and more efficiently. Europe needs exactly these kinds of bridges between research, industry, and application if it wants to remain technologically sovereign in strategic future markets. Approval of the second funding phase is therefore far more than merely a success for the consortium. It demonstrates the international competitiveness of Saxony’s high-tech ecosystem and its potential to build new industrial value chains and a globally visible lead market for digital medical technologies based on excellence in microelectronics.”

SEMECO at Silicon Saxony Days 2026

At Silicon Saxony Days, taking place in Dresden from June 15–17, SEMECO will present current developments in secure and connected medical technology. Visitors will see how research projects on privacy-preserving AI training, cybersecurity in healthcare and the secure, real-time transmission of medical vital data via Bluetooth and 5G work. Additional exhibits will showcase portable ultrasound technologies and intelligent infusion systems designed to support safer therapy processes in hospitals.

About the Clusters4Future Initiative

Through the Clusters4Future initiative, the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR) supports outstanding, primarily regional innovation ecosystems. SEMECO is one of a total of 14 funded clusters. The second of up to three possible implementation phases began in May 2026. Over a period of up to nine years, SEMECO is eligible for funding of up to 45 million euros.  www.clusters4future.de/

Contact
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Dr. Annett Berthold
Dr. Elisabeth Fischermeier

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