Innovation in medtech and consumables – why essential – ET HealthWorld


Innovation in medtech and consumables - why essential
by Anish Bafna

The common view associated with the pandemic has been of the lives lost and the hardships that each and everyone had to undergo. However, it has to be also acknowledged that through this hardship emerged a resilient human spirit that led the way to innovative solutions to contain and overcome the pandemic. The medical technology (MedTech) and consumables industry is an excellent example of resilience, catering to multiple devices and consumables developed and manufactured at scale to meet the nation’s demands. These included products like diagnostic tests, personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, gloves and much more. In India, we were able to develop consumables for local use and cater to international requirements throughout the pandemic.

The Global And National Market today
As per Frost and Sullivan Report, as economies open up after the pandemic, surgical procedures are expected to grow at 5.1% CAGR from 2021 -25 driven by the release of pent-up demand. The Indian medical devices market was valued at US$ 7.3 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a CAGR (2021-2025) of 9.2% reaching US$ 11.25 billion by 2025.

Global Experience and Leadership to the rescue
Learning gathered from experience during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) episodes had prepared some MedTech and consumable companies to stock up raw materials and develop local supply chains in advance to meet the demands that would come up due to COVID. Similarly, tying up the stocks and logistics with strong management information systems will continue to support timely business process innovations that were critical to making timely decisions to ensure that the finished products were able to reach the designated locations nationally and globally. This tenure has also brought together multiple innovation centres through the public-private partnership to develop solutions faster and get them to the market.

The current Indian medical devices industry is fragmented into small and medium enterprise categories and primarily manufactures products such as disposables or medical supplies to cater to the low priced, high volume market segment wherein the competition is intense. There continues a national and global demand to meet the needs for high-end medical equipment developed by multinational companies at lesser price points with similar quality standards. Based on these global ques, select Indian companies have decided to raise the quality and quantity challenges through the support of the ‘Make in India’ campaign. To support quality initiatives, the Quality Council of India and the Association of Indian Manufacturers of Medical Devices have added new features to the Indian Certification for Medical Devices (ICMED) Scheme, which was launched in 2016 for medical devices certification. The ICMED 13485 PLUS scheme will establish a much-needed institutional mechanism to ensure product quality and safety. It will go a long way toward assisting procurement agencies in dealing with the threat of counterfeit products and fake certification.

To promote better quality standards in medical devices, the ideal route will be for the establishment of a central global body to develop and agree on a single internationally recognised and harmonised quality standard for medical devices that will be acceptable by all the countries. This will ensure that there is a global standard that all companies will have to comply with and will also boost national and internal production and exports of finished goods. In the current scenario, multiple national and international bodies have different guidelines for the same products resulting in multiple issues in production and exports.

Positive outlook for innovation and infrastructure
Today, India provides a one-of-a-kind and dynamic platform for nurturing medical device innovations, as well as the opportunity to turn ideas into reality. Recognising the immense growth potential of the medical device sector, the medical devices industry has been recognised by the Government of India (GoI) as a ‘sunshine sector’ for the ‘Make in India’ initiative. This has been constantly powered by numerous fiscal initiatives and policy changes since 2014, which led to the development of a robust and enabling ecosystem for this sector. As a result, the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone was set up in August 2016, and similar MedTech parks are being developed in different locations in India.

The GoI, through the Department of Biotechnology, has invested substantially in collaborative programmes like Stanford India Biodesign programmes, School of International Biodesign etc., to boost MedTech innovation in the country and develop the next generation of MedTech entrepreneurs in the country. Such programs are being implemented at AIIMS and IIT Delhi in collaboration with leading universities of the developed world, with Biotech Consortium India as a techno-legal management partner.

There is increased interest in the MedTech capabilities of Indian companies by the national and international venture capitalists. As a result, funding is available to scalable solutions that meet international quality standards across its stages of development. With the government and private players stepping up to meet the quality parameters that have to become a partner of choice at the global scale, the promise associated with Making in India for the world will become a reality sooner than later.

Anish Bafna, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Healthium Medtech

(DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and ETHealthworld.com does not necessarily subscribe to it. ETHealthworld.com shall not be responsible for any damage caused to any person/organisation directly or indirectly.)





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