2015 – looking ahead in the medical device sector

2015 should be a big year for the medical device industry. Innovation has always been key and now the challenge will be finding new ways of innovating, be it through materials, cost or product design. Lu Rahman looks at some of the trends set to make their mark next year.

Wearable injectables

Forget brown is the new black – it’s not the colour but what you wear that’s important. It’s been said that if 2014 was the year of the wearable, 2015 will be the year of the wearable injectable. This offers real opportunity for the medical device company as there aren’t enough devices on the market at the moment to cope with the viscosity of the new biologic drugs being developed.

According to the ceo of Unilife, Alan Shortfall, the wearables injectables market is expected to exceed $8 billion over the next ten years. Add to this the fact that Sanofi and Unilife have recently entered into a wearable injectable deal that could net Unilife $1 billion a year for the next 15 years, and the potential is clear.

Wearables

While wearable injectables are being hailed as the next big thing, wearable devices as a whole are showing no signs of waning. With product offerings growing at a pace, one challenge here for the manufacturer is for both the consumer and the healthcare professional to be convinced of the technology to maximise on uptake.

Devices for health and for fitness are also still gaining significance and it will be interesting to see which ones gain market share and longevity in the industry. With big players in the market such as Apple, LG and Adidas, the potential for wearables is evident and analysts at Morgan Stanley have predicted the sector is worth $1.3 trillion in the near future.

Digital health

The rise of digital health is all around us and devices that can monitor both health and fitness are becoming increasingly sought-after. As more of us look to improve fitness levels with wearables that monitor heart rate, distance travelled etc, the market for these products is on the up. Add to this the growing demand by healthcare workers to digitise the way they work, and the sector shows serious potential. From patient records, to procurement, to monitoring patient health, the benefits of all things digital are becoming increasingly significant for both consumers and industry professionals.

Big data

Big data is going big (what else?) As the sector examines ways to reduce cost, the role of data is on the up. IT infrastructure is becoming more important to healthcare professionals and medical devices that can link into this will be big winners too.

3D printed medical devices

According to Dr Michael Patton, Medical Innovation Labs, 3D printing has made medical devices cool again. Personally, I’d like to think this industry has always had an air of chic about it but he does have a point. We can print drugs, we can print cartilage and it’s looking likely we’ll be able to print a fully functioning liver in the next few years. What’s not cool about that?

While we may run the risk of having 3D printing fatigue given the explosion of the technology in the media in general, there is still much to be gained from this technology. Patton cites prototyping as a key area of strength for 3D printing – it’s more about how we make it, rather than what we make.

Cost

It’s all about the money. No surprise really. But it does throw up some interesting innovations. Designing for emerging markets and offering products with multi-functionality are just two of the ways device manufacturers are being challenged to innovate in 2015 to help keep spending down. Devices that can innovate and be produced cheaper will be increasingly popular as the sector looks to increase profit and shave spend where possible. Products that can measure heart rate, temperature and ECG rates in one, will be stars of the show as they not only cut costs on multiple device spend help save space in hospitals.

Disruption

I like this one. Disruption - where would we be without it? And 2015 shows no signs of being any less disruptive for the sector. As companies looks to break into emerging markets and address consumerisation while reducing costs, disruptive ways of marketing, designing products and reaching new customers will gain importance.

Consolidation

This has been on the list for some time now and shows no signs of abating. Consolidation is still big business in the medical device world and in 2015 it looks like that trend will continue. The orthopaedic sector in particular is being held up as the one to watch for consolidation news.

While many big-name mergers have already taken place, 2015 could be the year that small and medium-sized business look to strengthen their position and product pipelines. Watch this space . . .