The challenges faced by the medtech industry during the recession do not mean it has failed to respond to economic pressures, European medical device industry association Eucomed has argued.

Rather, the association said, they reflect the flawed strategies adopted by governments and health systems in cutting short-term costs.

A letter by Eucomed Chief Executive John Wilkinson to the Financial Times, responding to its claim that the medical device industry is suffering a “cyclical” market downturn, emphasised the potential of innovative medical technology to provide solutions to health economic problems.

FT columnist ‘Lex’ stated that the revenue growth of major medical devices such as pacemakers, orthopaedic implants and cardiac stents has declined in recent years, adding the comment:

“The industry once seemed to have it all: a demographic tailwind from an ageing rich world, defensiveness, exciting scientific innovation. Yet share performance in the past two years has been mixed, with firms devicesfocused on pacemakers/defibrillators and stents underperforming badly.”

While noting that clinical issues have affected sales of stents among other products, Lex argued that the industry is “surprisingly cyclical”: the economic downturn has affected it directly through impact on insurance, jobs and hospital budgets. Finally he suggested that economic recovery may leave the industry still struggling, as healthcare providers and patients have learned to get by without its expensive solutions.

Wilkinson challenged this passive view of medtech as a victim of economic forces. He pointed out that “hospital stays have reduced by 50% in 20 years” as a result of medical technologies, reducing the cost of delivering care while improving clinical outcomes. The industry will benefit profoundly from the current “reorientation towards demonstrating economic impacts and broader social value”.

However, he noted, the uptake of new medical technologies is being negatively affected by the “increased rationing of care” and the failure of many health systems to “wholly assess the full value of medical technology innovation”, leading them to erect barriers to innovation in the interests of “short-term cost control rather than long-term efficiency and effectiveness.”

 
John Wilkinson

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