Kalorama Information lists 'Top Five Trends in Healthcare in 2014'
NEW YORK — Telemedicine and a growing demand for biopharmaceutical medications were among the top trends in health care in 2014, according to Kalorama Information.
"There were many issues and trends, but we think these five were the most interesting and significant," said Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information. "These were the events that significant companies will have to adjust to."
Kalorama Information’s "Top Five Trends in Healthcare in 2014" includes:
BRIC Growth Good But Not As Good – BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) demonstrated economic growth that was faster than the United States markets but not as fast as in previous years. For instance Brazil at 2.5%, China at 7.7% - high growth but not as high as 2010 (both countries at 10% growth). Kalorama believes this will impact manufacturer plans to use these emerging markets to counter slow revenue growth in developed markets.
The Next-Generation Sequencer Evolves Into Clinical Medicine - there is high interest in the healthcare industry in using lower cost, smaller size and fast DNA sequencing for better understanding of disease and specific abnormalities, particularly in enhancing the study of tumors. The increased use of sequencing may enhance some existing test products and may compete with others.
Interest in Patient Monitoring Solutions and Telemedicine - for better outcomes and more efficient care. Remote patient monitoring systems inside hospitals or connecting health care workers to patients at home continue to demonstrate revenue growth and customer demand. The market is expected to reach 29 billion by year-end and will grow at a rate of 9% for the next four years, according to Kalorama.
Demand For Biopharmaceutical Production - the need to produce new biopharmaceutical drugs is driving the market for the companies that will handle the production and for the equipment used in the process. The Biopharmaceutical Production market demonstrated 11% revenue growth and reached $41 billion this year, according to Kalorama's estimates. With the investment in recent years in biotechnology companies, this type of growth is expected to continue.
Medical Device Companies Grow By Buying - several large device mergers were concluded or announced in 2014, most notably Medtronic and Covidien. In addition to several acquisitions by Stryker, Zimmer announced this year the acquisition of Biomet Inc. Becton Dickinson announced it would purchase CareFusion.
Kalorama stated that these trends cut across healthcare industries and will alter the way the market for healthcare products and services looks in 2015. While IVD makers wonder how sequencing figures into their strategies, device companies may look for the next acquisition target to counter what competitors have done. Health care systems will be eyeing telemedicine solutions, and investors will seek new biopharm drug companies with potential, and those companies will try to obtain production sources.
The healthcare market research firm publishes 40 to 50 studies every year.