How Medical Device Industry is Failing

In the recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, “Top Health Industry Issues of 2014”, the company declared that the medical device industry is getting back on track, boosted by the Affordable Care Act, technology advances and changing consumer attitudes. However, the medical device companies are still failing in some areas of this new landscape.

According to PwC report, due to the resistance of the medical device companies to show their consumers what they are getting for their money, more than 50% of them don’t think they have enough information on prices when buying medical devices.

Another indicator of PwC report is that less than 15% of the medical technology executives admit their company formally manages innovation. This demonstrates that the medical technology companies should be more concerned in managing their resources and investing in innovation.

The last indicator of “Top Health Industry Issues of 2014” which shows how medical device companies are failing is the waste of patient data. Few companies integrate patient data captured via apps into clinician workflows, electronic health reports and their R&D systems to drive innovation.

References:http://www.mddionline.com/article/3-ways-medtech-industry-failing

Regulations, 3D Printing and IT in Medtech Sector: trends for 2014

      Since the year is just beginning, it is time to make some predictions of hot trends for 2014. One of the most important fact that the medical device sector should pay attention to is the regulatory system in Europe. Some changes proposed by the current EU-Council could impact the industry severely. The next step is to find a compromise that works for all the member states and that should probably happen before European elections in May.

   3D Printing will continue to impress in 2014. Some patents of the technology will expire in February, leading to more competition and lower prices. For the next five years, it is expected to drop 60% of 3D metal printing costs.

     Finally, one cannot forget the influence of information technology in the medical device sector. After the announcement of Calico by Google and researches that are currently taking place by IBM in cooperation with National Cancer Institute of Milan or the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, digital healthcare is a key trend for this year. With sensors becoming cheaper and more powerful, one will be able to obtain more precise health related data.

References: http://www.emdt.co.uk/daily-buzz/regulation-3-d-printing-digitalisation-%E2%80%93-what-will-be-important-2014-0

2014: A Good Year for the Medtech Sector

JPMorgan Chase Analyst Michael Weinstein believes that 2014 will be good to the medtech sector. This week, the JPMorgan analyst published a research where he says to expect the medtech sector to grow 4.2% this year, up 0.8% from 2013.

“We see growth broadly accelerating in 2014-2015 as an industry that bottomed in 2011-2012 sees the benefits of new products, new markets, and small to mid- sized M&A. This is particularly true in cardiovascular devices, where we see growth accelerating at all three large cap names and ample room for innovation in small-cap, emerging growth companies – both public and private.”

Michael Weinstein

References: http://www.mddionline.com/article/jpmorgan-chase-analyst-2014-will-be-strong-year-medtech

Apple gets a Patent for a Seamlessly Embedded Heart Rate Monitor

Apple was awarded a patent for a seamlessly embedded heart rate monitor within in an electronic device (an iPhone, maybe?). The patent was granted on December 24, although the the application was made in January 2009. The patent describes an electronic device with an embedded sensor to detect cardiac activity and cardiac electrical signals.

However, Apple is not interested in becoming a FDA-regulated entity, so the company’s purpose is to use the heart rate as a way to authenticate a user’s identity or to determine the user’s mood from the cardiac signals and provide data related to the user’s mood. Anyway, it is not inconceivable that there could be medical applications of this heart rate monitor by third parties, already there are companies using the iPhone to build cardiac monitors.

References: http://www.mddionline.com/article/will-your-future-iphone-come-embedded-heart-rate-monitor

Second World Health Organisation’s Global Forum on Medical Devices

The Second World Health Organisation’s Global Forum on Medical Devices took place in Geneva on November 22-24th and gathered together the academia, international organisations, industry and NGOs. While one of the WHO’s strategic objectives is “to ensure improved access, quality and use of medical devices”, during this event the organisation emphasized how important it is to align medical device innovation with the public health need. According to the WHO, there is a mismatch between these two spheres.

      After hearing the stakeholders’ opinion, five insights were listed to help the industry work towards resolving the mismatch: 4 ‘A’s define the agenda to improve access to appropriate medical devices (Availability, Accessibility, Appropriateness, and Affordability); Diagnostics industry contributes to low resource settings beyond Corporate Social Responsibility activities; Bring research and manufacturing to low resource settings; Young entrepreneurs have a good grasp of localisation; Mobile is the way to go.

       To know more about the event, go to  www.who.int/medical_devices/2nd_gfmd/en/ 

References: http://www.medtecheurope.org/blogposts/195/40/blog/2013/12/02/5-WHO-Insights-into-conquering-the-medtech-mismatch

“3D: Printing the Future”

           3D Printing, or more professionally called Additive Manufacturing, is a process of making three dimensional solid object from a digital model. It can print in plastic, metal, nylon and so many other materials. It can make manufacturing prototype, end user products and even human organs by using a person’s own cells. This is possible because of its technology: it creates a three dimensional object by building it layer by layer successively.

        Besides the industry sector and academic researches, 3D Printing is being used by physicians and surgeons. The most recent event, that was all over the international media, is a case that took place in the United Kingdom. Surgeons are using 3D Printing to rebuild a patient’s face which was crushed in a motorbike accident. However, the surgery hasn’t been booked yet. The theme became an exhibition at the Science Museum in London and it is called “3D: Printing the Future”.

References: http://www.3dprinter.net/reference/what-is-3d-printing

        http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-24926598

Brazilian Healthcare Industry: first semester of 2013

In the first semester of 2013, the Brazilian medical device sector increased 6,5% (compared to the same period of 2012). This is according to Abimed (Brazilian Association of High Technology Equipment, Products and Medical Supplies). This association represents 150 healthcare companies which are responsible for almost 60% of the Brazilian medical device sector.

According to the report, the sales were also increased by 8,6% and the sector was responsible for the creation of 3500 new jobs, both industrial and commercial sector. These numbers are way above national economy average.

The healthcare sector represents 0,6% of Brazil’s GDP, gathers 13 thousand companies responsible for 120 thousand jobs and its revenue was about US$ 9 billion in 2012.

References: http://www.abimed.org.br/notPadrao.aspx?idNoticia=110