Originally Published MDDI December
2004
Medtech
Snapshot
Focus on Technology
Providing Improved
Utility at Reduced Costs
The industry produced many examples of new devices that offer both improved
clinical utility and reduced overall costs to the healthcare system, says financial
management firm Merrill Lynch. Several major markets and technologies drove
industry growth in 2004. Analysts singled out coronary stents as one of the
most significant technologies of the year.
A number of studies showed that drug-eluting stents may be beneficial to certain
high-risk patients, and these findings could expand the market for the blockbuster
technology. According to securities firm J.P. Morgan, the advent of drug-eluting
stents could double the $4.3 billion interventional cardiology market within
the next few years.
Implantable defibrillators was another significant technology this year. The
graphs on this and the following pages provide a more-detailed look at the shape
of these two markets.
A graph on page 60 also provides a snapshot of diagnostic imaging, the industry’s
most costly technology.
Copyright ©2005 Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry
