Medical Device Suppliers Unite to Form the WCDA

The West Coast Device Alliance members are Eagle Medical, West Pak, Pacific BioLabs, Blue Line Sterilization Services, and Steri-Trek.

Omar Ford

February 20, 2024

Image Credit: Caitlin Schwartz

Throughout the past few years, a significant number of mergers and acquisitions in the medical device supplier’s space have occurred. The consolidation has created headwinds for some of the smaller companies in the market making it more difficult to compete.

Earlier this month, during MD&M West, five suppliers in the medical device industry, as a response to the mass consolidation efforts in the industry, formed the West Coast Device Alliance (WCDA).

Roy Morgan, president and CEO of Eagle Medical, spoke to MD+DI about the impetus behind the WCDA.

“The impact these consolidations have in our industry has to do with the power of brand recognition that these large multi-national conglomerates can create,” Morgan told MD+DI. “They have the marketing budgets and the advertising budgets that are of such scale that they can eclipse other players in the marketplace. It creates this … bright light in the industry that makes it hard for smaller players to achieve this sort of brand awareness.”

The founding members of the WCDA are Eagle Medical, specializing in FDA-compliant assembly, packaging, and in-house Hydrogen Peroxide Gas Plasma (HPGP) specific sterilization; West Pak, a 3rd-party, independent-laboratory specializing in package validation and product testing; Pacific BioLabs, a contract research organization specializing in microbiology, services for living organisms in vivo as well as analytical chemistry and cell-based bioassay culture samples in vitro for the medical device and pharmaceutical industries; Blue Line Sterilization Services, ethylene oxide sterilization services, and Steri-Tek, a high-volume E-beam and X-ray contract sterilizer as well as R&D innovation center.

“The simple virtue of combining many different types of businesses with the clarity of end-to-end provision for product realization in the medspace … you’re able to give the uninitiated in our industry a sense of clarity of pathway,” Morgan said. “When you’re one component in that landscape like an Eagle, Pacific BioLabs or WestPak, as the independents are that are part of this WCDA, it is more difficult to work with the uninitiated in our industry to give them that same degree of clarity. A big part of why we wanted this was to educate each other and give each other that same level of clarity of pathway.”

There’s potential for more companies to join but that’s definitely in the future Morgan, noted.

“A membership aspect of the WCDA is definitely in the cards,” he said.

About the Author

Omar Ford

Omar Ford is a veteran reporter in the field of medical technology and healthcare journalism. As Editor-in-Chief of MD+DI (Medical Device and Diagnostics Industry), a leading publication in the industry, Ford has established himself as an authoritative voice and a trusted source of information.

Ford, who has a bachelor's degree in print journalism from the University of South Carolina, has dedicated his career to reporting on the latest advancements and trends in the medical device and diagnostic sector.

During his tenure at MD+DI, Ford has covered a wide range of topics, including emerging medical technologies, regulatory developments, market trends, and the rise of artificial intelligence. He has interviewed influential leaders and key opinion leaders in the field, providing readers with valuable perspectives and expert analysis.

 

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