Evolution Of Medtech: How Technology Is Driving Growth Of Indian Healthcare

India has made enormous advancements in the healthcare sector over the years and has established itself as a global market leader. With the introduction of MedTech and radical advancements in technology, the healthcare sector has undergone radical transformation. Stryker Vice President & Managing Director Meenakshi Nevatia talks about the evolving technology and its role in the healthcare delivery to improve patient outcomes. 

1. How has Covid-19 affected the medical devices industry? 

While the pandemic led to significant challenges across the country, the MedTech industry has experienced both ups and downs through this period. Most elective surgeries slowed down immensely during 2020 and first half of 2021 and medical devices not related to Covid-19 experienced a sharp drop in demand during this period. On the other hand, the pandemic led to a significantly increased demand medical devices related to Covid-19 prevention and management such as testing kits, medical masks, PPE, medical protective gowns, pulse oximeters, ventilators, etc. The need to test for the virus led to a surge in the pipeline of in vitro diagnostic (IVD) products, with a greater number of rapid, point-of-care devices entering the market. Not only this, but domestic manufacturing of many devices has also ramped up during the crisis to plug in the supply challenges linked to critical medical devices. 

2. How has the role of technology evolved in the present-day healthcare industry? Explain Stryker’s contribution towards improving standard of care.   

The market for healthcare solutions has lately seen several changes, especially in the wake of COVID-19, and sectors like medical technology are now playing an even more significant role in the delivery of healthcare to improve patient outcomes.  

With the industry now regaining its position to pre-pandemic levels, product innovation has become the key to achieving long-term success for medical technology companies. The adoption of new technologies is on the rise (e.g, robotics) and digital healthcare is making real inroads in the form of wearable devices, precision medicine, and point-of-care testing for diagnosis and treatment. These new technologies will have a significant impact on how the Indian medical device sector develops and how diseases are prevented, diagnosed, and treated. 

As one of the leading medical technology companies in the world, we develop and commercialize a wide range of cutting-edge medical technology, including reconstructive, medical, surgical, and spine devices. Our Research and Commercial organizations are oriented towards a singular purpose of launching breakthrough technologies including robotics that can enable surgeons to make healthcare better through improved patient outcomes across a full range of therapeutic areas including orthopaedic, neurovascular, oncology, general surgery, neurosurgery, gastro surgery, gynaecology, transplant etc. In addition, a significant proportion of our business is focused on bringing to hospitals the best infrastructure both in the OR and in the ICU.  Our most recent launch in India is Smart Medic, an advanced ICU solution that can enable measurement of weight and patient movement which in turn can directly translate to better patient care. 

3. Atmanirbhar Bharat: Please share your point of view of the current scenario w.r.t medical device industry and what would be the need of the hour for the industry? 

The need of the hour is for the government and the healthcare industry to partner to scale up infrastructure to meet the rising healthcare demands across the country. 

With 80–85% of medical technology still being imported, the focus of the Government to drive local manufacturing to reduce dependence on imports is very logical. Several positive steps have been made in this direction by the Government and both the indian industry and multinational companies are participating in the schemes to drive up local manufacturing.  

While it's crucial to decrease reliance on imports, the enormously high duties (basic customs duties plus 5% health cess) make it difficult for the sector to continue offering technologies at reasonable prices and ensuring access to cutting-edge technology. We would urge the government to look at this while continuing to take positive measures to drive up local manufacturing.  

4. What according to you would be the trends in the Medtech industry that will drive growth in the year 2023? 

India's healthcare sector is expanding extremely fast. The aging population, the rising incidence of lifestyle diseases, the growing demand for affordable healthcare, technological and innovative developments to improve patient care, and greater government and private sector investments in infrastructure are all contributing to the sector's expansion in India. 

Overall, India has a great projected growth trajectory. Nonetheless, a few actions needed to catalyse and accelerate this growth: 

• A predictable, transparent, and equitable pricing framework is necessary to give companies the confidence to invest in areas like skill development, training, and education 
• Establishing a single central authority to regulate medical devices so that governance and policies can be harmonized to drive growth and innovation 
• Global harmonization of regulatory standards and implementation of quality standards that promote access to world class devices. 

5. Research and development (R&D) spending becomes more important as it focuses on developing ground-breaking products or solutions to address unmet market demands. According to you, what stage is Indian healthcare in when it comes to R&D and innovation? 

India has the potential to develop into a major centre for medical device R&D due to the vast number of engineering graduates it produces each year from prestigious universities. Many businesses have established R&D facilities in India, where they are hiring a sizable number of engineers and associates. The idea is to acknowledge and encourage this within the Make in India framework. A robust framework is needed including capital subsidies and tax incentives to increase focus on R&D in India. There is also a significant possibility for collaboration and partnerships with Indian institutions. 

6. How does Stryker plan to contribute to the MedTech market with innovation? 

As one of the leading Medical Technology companies in the world, we at Stryker are continuously coming up with new ideas to keep up with the quickly changing needs of our customers and patients. We have an impressive portfolio of cutting-edge medical and surgical, neurotechnology, orthopaedic, and spine products and services that enhance patients and hospital results. 

The latest milestone is the opening of our new R&D centre, Stryker’s Global technology centre in Gurugram, which will help accelerate innovation in India and globally. The centre has been designed to connect with healthcare professionals and develop new technologies to meet their needs.