A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
 |
So, how bad is it? Well, maybe not as bad as all that . . . if you’re part of the medical technology industry. That’s the conclusion I draw from a couple of surveys that were published in October.
During roughly the same time frame, international consultancy Emergo Group (Austin, TX, USA; www.emergogroup.com) polled people in the medical device and IVD industries worldwide, and pan-European industry association Eucomed (Brussels; www.eucomed.be) commissioned a survey of European med-tech stakeholders. The results had much in common, and were surprisingly at odds with the prevailing economic gloom-and-doom scenarios. Med-tech industry professionals and observers, it avers, are fairly upbeat about the sector’s economic prospects as we prepare to stare down 2009.
In the Emergo survey, 61% of respondents said they expect their company’s overall sales to increase in the coming year. Less than one in 10 thinks that sales will drop. And the employment picture inspires confidence, as well: 84% of those polled said they expect the size of their company’s staff to remain the same or to increase in 2009.
When the Emergo survey questions shift to industry at large, the response is less buoyant, perhaps, but still largely more optimistic than you might expect. More than half of respondents (56%) said they felt somewhat or very positive about the device industry’s prospects for 2009. Only 17% confessed to harbouring somewhat or very negative feelings about the coming year.
Globalization seems to be faring well in the med-tech sector; in fact, the Emergo poll overwhelmingly forecasts it to rise in 2009. When asked if their company planned to expand into new international markets next year, almost three in four responded yes. Only 8.5% of respondents said that their company would not.
|
The Eucomed survey also brought a healthy dose of good news. Notably, 94% of respondents agreed that demand for medical technology would rise strongly over the next three to five years. Practically the same number concurred that significant unmet needs exist in awareness and treatment across business areas.
As in the Emergo survey, respondents pointed to international markets as opportunities for growth. Given that all of the survey participants came from Europe, however, specific markets came into sharp focus: 90% of respondents indicated that emerging markets in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa would be drivers for growth. (It’s too bad, incidentally, that the Emergo survey did not ask respondents which specific international markets they would put in the driver’s seat. Since 67% of the participants were from North America and only 18% came from Europe, it would have been interesting to compare the results.)
The outlook regarding industry investment in Europe is more of a mixed bag, according to Eucomed. While a majority of respondents (57%) believe that their company will invest more in medical technology over the next five years, 43% think investment will be rolled back. But it’s not all about the economy, either. When asked to identify the biggest challenges moving forward, med-tech stakeholders also cited regulatory requirements, healthcare budgets, and low-cost competition as obstacles.
There you have it. I certainly don’t want to give the impression of having a Pollyannaish attitude when it comes to this once-in-a-lifetime economic crisis. But let’s face it: we can all use a little bit of good news right now. The fact that it’s coming from the med-tech industry, well, what’s not to love?
