5 Predictions for Medtech in 2020

EvaluateMedTech recently released a report projecting where the medical device industry will be in 2020. While the report also reflected on trends like the dwindling amount of VC cash being invested in medtech and the gradual improvement of the regulatory climate in the United States, it most interestingly offered projections of what the industry will look like five years from now.

Qmed Staff

1. Pharma Is Projected to Grow Faster Than Medtech

The international medical device market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 4.1%, hitting $477.5 billion by 2020, according to EvaluateMedTech. The pharma industry, conversely, will have a CAGR of 4.9%, according to the analysis.

It is, however, becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate the two industries, as pharma companies increasingly become interested in devices and the number of combination products takes off.

2. The Top Medtech Players Are Shifting

By now, you know that Medtronic is the new king of medtech when it comes to sales. While Johnson & Johnson had the biggest sales volume of any medtech company in 2014, it is in the process of slimming down its medical device business. Only recently, the company sold off its Cordis division. Meanwhile, Medtronic has been going on a shopping spree, having spent roughly $51.5 billion on acquisitions so far this year.

Becton Dickinson stands to become one of the top 10 medical device companies by 2020. Thanks to its acquisition of CareFusion, the company is expected to jump in the rankings from number 12 to number five.

Meanwhile, Zimmer Biomet could transition from being the 20^th biggest device company to the 13^th biggest by 2020, following the merger of, well, Zimmer and Biomet.

3. Medtronic Has a Big Budget for R&D, Too

Evaluate MedTech says that Medtronic could be the biggest spender when it comes to R&D, spending $2.5 billion by 2020. That's 8.47% of the total spent that the entire medtech industry is projected to spend that year.

4. IVD May Be the Biggest Medtech Sector

It wasn't long ago that the in vitro diagnostics industry was viewed as a step-child industry in the medical device field. But IVD could become the leading niche in the industry by 2020, responsible for 14.1%, or $67.3 billion in sales. The niche is expected to grow at the rate of 5.1% between 2014 and 2020.

5. Neurology Is Poised to Be the Fastest-Growing Niche

The EvaluateMedTech report predicts that neurology will be the fastest-growing device area, with sales growing at an annual rate of 6.9% between 2014 and 2020. By 2020, the sector could be worth $9.5 billion.

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