World vision: Looking at the medtech sector in 2017
As many of you know, the start of 2017 saw the launch of MPN North America, making our medical plastics community increasingly global.
With that in mind the political situation in the US – and how it could affect the global medical device sector – is highly interesting.
The potential repealing of the medical device tax has been viewed as a positive step for many companies working in the industry. The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), has never been a big fan of the tax, which was created as a funding measure for Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The association believes it harms job creation, deters medical innovation and increases the cost of healthcare.
It will be interesting to see what happens. The country has already received what many perceive to be a step in the right direction with the 21st Century Cures Act. AdvaMed is again a supporter of this which many hope will lead to faster approval for medical devices.
Of course it’s not just the US that the global medical device sector is eyeing with interest. China is still regarded as holding opportunities for medtech. As it continues with its ‘Made in China 2015’ and its localisation policy, medical device companies from outside the country have been urged to find local partners before trying to do business helping them overcome any challenges.
The CDFA (China Food and Drug Administration) recently published Guidelines for the Preparation of Special Reports on the Application of Innovative Medical Devices to encourage medical device innovation and promote the practice of new medical device technology. The publication aims to help China’s medical device localisation process, and to boost the development of the Chinese medical device industry.
Closer to home and as 2017 progresses no doubt many medical plastics firms will be keen to keep a close watch on whether Brexit has a marked effect on the medtech sector. While stock markets plummeted once the result of the referendum was announced, it seems the UK economy is currently coping well with the result. Back in August, manufacturing output was reported to have rebounded to a ten month high but only time will tell as to how this will pan out over coming months.
On a global scale the medical device sector offers wide-reaching opportunities despite on-going political and economic change. With markets such as China, India and Kenya holding revenue opportunities, there is much to be positive about as well as take advantage of as the year unfolds.