Hobbling into 2024 with Newfound Optimism

At this time last year, I was cautiously tiptoeing into 2023, wary of what lay ahead. I left the optimism to others as amusement park-style warnings echoed in my mind, urging me to remain seated and to keep my arms and legs inside the vehicle of the unfolding year.

This strategy served me well until the morning of New Year’s Eve, when an unexpected misstep sent me hurtling down the stairs, ending in a rather undignified encounter with a ceramic-tiled floor. The incident left me nursing a battered foot, shoulder, and pride. And yet, it also gifted me with a newfound perspective.

Now, as I hobble into 2024 with the ghost of a lingering concussion, I’m surprised by a sense of optimism for the year ahead. Perhaps it’s due to a slightly addled brain, but I genuinely believe this year holds promise – particularly for the medtech industry.

Yes, there will be hurdles and uncertainties as there are every year. However, after the headwinds that rocked the medical device realm in 2023, I’m convinced the industry is poised not just to pick itself up but to revel in some well-earned victories in 2024. Leading medtech analysts, like BTIG's Marie Thibault, have shared similar sentiments.

“Many of our covered companies can point to some of the healthiest fundamentals we can recall, with strong operating track records and important product pipelines,” Thibault wrote in a report last week.

I’m especially excited about what we’ll see in the cardiology sector this year. FDA approvals of two differentiated renal denervation technologies – Recor Medical’s ultrasound-based Paradise system and Medtronic’s radiofrequency-based Symplicity system – brings important new options for addressing uncontrolled hypertension. And I can’t wait to see how the pulsed field ablation space grows this year, with Boston Scientific’s Farapulse easily the most anticipated device of 2024.

One company high on my watch list for the new year is Abbott. Potential FDA approval for its Lingo glucose wearable, its Esprit below-the-knee resorbable stent, its TriClip device, potential CE mark approval of its Aveir VR leadless pacemaker, all add up to an exciting year for Abbott.

In surgical robotics, it will be interesting to see if this will be the year Intuitive Surgical rolls out a next-generation multiport system. It was this time last year that Intuitive dashed investor hopes of a 2023 launch of such a system.

Overall, I’m hoping to see fewer layoffs across medtech, better transparency, and less noise about GLP-1 ripple effects. So, whether you’re hobbling into the new year like I am, or charging in at full speed, here’s to the journey ahead. And remember, even unexpected missteps can lead to newfound resilience.