Medical devices & diagnostics

Introduction Medical diagnostics, pin-pointing growth HIT Trade Fair Trade fairs for senior care and handicap Opportunities in the French Health sector Hopital Expo - Inter Medica 2008 Overview of the German and French Medical Equipment Industry

Medical Diagnostics, Pin-Pointing Growth

Spending money on one’s health is perceived as a national right in France. The average Frenchman spent €2218 last year on his health of which €470 was pharmaceuticals, one of the highest levels in the world. Comparing internationally, France dedicates 9.6% of its GDP to healthcare spending, compared to 7.6% for the UK which, incidentally has about the same absolute level of GDP. But just like in most European economies, the French health care budget runs at a deficit which the government can no longer ignore.

The government has decided to try to curb health spending in two ways: first by cutting back on hospital budgets and secondly on improving efficiency through better prevention and better diagnostics. So while the overall health budget, at 140bn€ in 2004, is under scrutiny to come down, medical analysis saw a 10.2% increase in value terms to 3.6bn€. One of the fastest growing sub-sectors is the In Vitro Diagnostics Medical Devices (IVDMD). France is now the fifth largest IVDMD market in the world and growing.

Within IVDMD, the category of immuno-chemistry is the largest, making up about a third and growing around 10% per annum. Bio-chemistry comes a close second and is growing at about the same rate. Infectious-immunology accounts for roughly a quarter of IVDMD and is seeing the highest growth at nearly 12% per year. Haematology (+11% per annum) and micro-biology (+2.5% per annum) make up the rest.

- The government’s recognition of diagnostics as a cost-saving measure in the long term

- Patients are increasingly paying a part of labtests in France

- New fields in labtests (Proteomics, Genetests) and tests (cancer, cardiac…) are expanding the reach of IVDMDs

Since December 2003, the EU and European Economic Area has a Single Medical Devices Law. So a company that does good business in one member state has no boundary to doing business in another member state. The EU and the US are even in discussion for a mutual recognition of inspections and specifications for IVDMDs.