Frost & Sullivan: APAC's Medical Devices Market Ready to Skyrocket

SINGAPORE, June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The Asia Pacific medical devices market is making a steady comeback after the global recession of 2009. Frost & Sullivan forecasts a CAGR of 10.2% from year 2009 – 2012, with this sector being worth 62.3 billion in APAC by 2012, a contribution of 25.8% of the global market.

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Simranjit Singh, Director, Healthcare Practice, Frost & Sullivan says that the APAC medical devices market is transitioning toward a mindset more focused on patient monitoring. An increased demand for safety, accuracy, efficiency and cost from healthcare service providers will consequently also drive the silver industry devices, whilst the convergence of devices and pharma products will be a trend more commonly witnessed especially so in drug delivery. These factors will drive medical device manufacturers to increase R&D budget to develop newer and better products to meet market demands and customer requirement standards.

"Whilst globally, CAGR from 2009 to 2012 is expected to be at 5.8%, APAC will see a CAGR of 10.2%, and revenues in this segment are set go up to USD 62.3 billion by 2012, capturing 25.8% of the global market revenues," Singh states.

Technological convergence between diagnostic, monitoring and treatment devices will be another major driver as medical professionals view the merging of technology as the next big step in accurately delivering drug treatments on time and in specific doses while conducting regular diagnostic and monitoring procedures. Doctors are actively prescribing medical devices such as the Insulin Pump & Blood Glucose Monitor for Type 1 Diabetic patients to help patients to monitor blood glucose level and administer regulated insulin at the same time.

"As indicated, it is likely that by 2015, the medical devices industry in APAC will be looking at a growth rate almost double that of the rest of the world, signifying exciting times ahead indeed for Asia Pacific," says Singh.

"Some of the market restraints that APAC will have to address include regulatory and reimbursement hurdles, lack of sufficient distribution networks and inadequate training/certification for allied staff," Singh explains.

Looking from a country perspective, a strong regulatory policy that enforces stringent control over medical devices manufacturing processes is crucial for market growth. Malaysia is striving to be an example for the region with the enactment of the Medical Devices Act to circumvent proper manufacturing processes, packaging, distribution & sales within the country.

Such regulatory policy will help raise the quality of medical devices manufactured in Malaysia to be equivalent to that of international standards. The policy will also attract foreign investors to view Malaysia as a viable manufacturing option for medical devices and in turn increases exports activity.

Singh commented that the medical device industry in Malaysia is climbing steadily at a CAGR of 9.3%. He foresees that by 2012, the overall revenue forecast for medical devices will exceed USD 900 million, which is over a 31% increase in revenue from the year 2009. The growth was attributed to driving factors such as growing global demand for disposable surgical products, growth in cardiovascular disease and orthopedic procedures, as well as a strengthening of the legal framework for IP for medical devices manufacturers.

Self monitoring blood glucose & insulin injection devices will see increased demand, spurred by an increased level of awareness as well as an increase in the number of diabetic patients within the country which are currently standing at about 1.8 million people, though a good 80% more of diabetics in need of treatment, are yet undiagnosed.

The pressing need to address and curb an increasing number of infectious diseases & hospital-acquired infections such as H1N1, MRSA, will naturally result in a strong move toward disposables, signifying this is an area of high growth potential. Malaysia manufacturers are already implementing technological advances in disposables esp. medical gloves, catheters, etc., and many companies have already set the stage to become leaders within the industry.

Opportunities are also abound to set up design & manufacturing innovation clusters for high-end medical devices e.g. cardiovascular, orthopedic implants, etc. There has been a global push for implantable devices based on the Asian physiology. For example, Malaysia by market forces has developed a dynamic cluster focusing on the entire value chain of orthopedics from biopharma growth factors & natural supplements to implantable devices. In order to fast track this sector, centres of excellences in orthopedics are required so that products can move from bench to bedside much quicker. Under the Industrial Malaysian Plan 3 US$ 234 M (RM 800 million) has been targeted as investment in medical devices/equipment for 2010

Given the right incentive and the right timing, investors may be well placed to capture and capitalize on the abundant opportunities that may be reaped in the medical devise industry within Asia Pacific and Malaysia.

About Frost & Sullivan

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SOURCE Frost & Sullivan