5 Trends going into 2022 for the Medical Device Industry

The Medical Devices Market is constantly evolving. Medical Device OEMs must be aware of the market pulse – and be prepared to adapt to shifts in the market. That’s a herculean feat given the complexity of market drivers and constraints. The solution is to build agility into the business – with a strong commitment to new product development while maintaining existing product lines. The ideal business will deliver supply chain advantages with high flexibility and most importantly, healthy margins. Outsourcing is unsurprisingly growing in popularity especially in the medical devices industry because contract manufacturers (CMs) offer just that. What you look for in a Contract Manufacturer has a lot to do with medical device industry trends going into 2022. Let’s look at the top five trends here:

Medical Device Industry Trends

#1 Supply Chain Strategy

Disruption has been the name of the game during the pandemic. Anything that had anything to do with transport, logistics, and inventory faced endless hurdles owing to travel restrictions, transport delays, decreased transport capacities, drastically increased freight price, and more. In order for CMs to absorb all these setbacks, they have had to develop stronger and more resilient supply chain strategies for themselves. Supply chain resilience is therefore one of the top selection criteria for OEMs.

#2 Growing adoption of Minimally Invasive Devices

The minimally invasive devices segment has been increasing in popularity owing to the increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases, its inherently low risk, tremendous leaps in technology, quick recovery time, and the pandemic-driven demand for increased safety. The minimally invasive surgical device market in 2020 was valued at $66 billion and is estimated to grow to $113 billion by 2026. Naturally, CMs specializing in manufacturing technology and having in-depth knowledge of minimally invasive devices are in great demand.

#3 China: Home Grown Innovation and Med-tech Growth

The medical device market in China has experienced massive growth in recent times. The two primary drivers behind the growth have been the Chinese government’s incentives for local innovations such as the MAH Policy and their rapid recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. CMs who have a plant in China will be able to benefit from China’s medical device industry growth, improvement, and tremendous success.

#4 Consumer Wearables

Numerous wearable devices are now actively being used by healthcare practitioners to monitor patient health and track tell-tale changes in their bodies such as unwarranted increases or decreases in blood pressure, heart rate fluctuations, etc. For example, the Apple watch series 6 came with an oxygen sensor, Fitbits could detect coronavirus a day ahead of the symptoms even showing up. Wellness and preventive medicine have placed much emphasis on greater functionality, the use of software as a medical device (SaMD), and the feasibility and security of having the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) to monitor and track health from afar. The FDA and EU MDR’s recognition of many of these devices and technology as being ‘medical’ shows the upward trend for this entire segment.

#5 The Rise of Medical Device Outsourcing

Future Forward

In essence, choose to partner with an organization that has the capability to look ahead and handle future demands. A CM capable of shifting rapidly, to changing market demands. The APAC region boasts the best medical tech manufacturing in the world, with medical device outsourcing in China, growing at 9.5% CAGR which is higher than any other market in the world. Vertically integrated manufacturing with both upstream and downstream integration allows a CM, such as Quasar to not only render end-to-end manufacturing but also provide the benefits of accurate forecasting, on-time client deliveries, and superior servicing of medical devices.

Are there any other medical device industry trends that we missed? Do not hesitate to contact us and let us know.

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More resources:

• Mapping supply chain strategy: an industry analysis
• China Healthcare Tech Insight: Trends, Risks, and Opportunities
• Medical device maintenance outsourcing