President Biden says he believes the COVID-19 pandemic is over, although acknowledging that the virus is still a problem that needs addressing. As the pandemic gets farther behind us, does that mean that the medtech industry will return to a more normal market?

“Amid the challenges of a global pandemic, parts of the medtech sector were positioned to reap some of the spoils enjoyed by the big pharma players. Huge demand for COVID assays boosted revenues to previously unanticipated heights and each new wave and variant provided new opportunities for innovation” notes a report from market research firm Evaluate. The report, “Medtech World Preview 2022: Back to Reality,” also suggests that those days are gone — to the relief of some in industry.

“As the pandemic recedes, albeit in fits and starts, the demand for these assays — which were often available free of charge to the general public — has inevitably crashed, leaving some players blinking in the sunlight, wondering if it was all a dream. For others, though, the return to a more normal market is a welcome relief as treatments and surgeries that were halted due to COVID beginning to ramp up again,” the analysts say.

The analysts are predicting steady growth through 2028. “Given the bear market that the life sciences industry has endured throughout 2022, ‘steady growth’ will be music to many ears. Of course, this growth varies by sector, with highlights coming from diabetic care, growing at 11 percent annually out to 2028; dental, growing at 12 percent; and general and plastic surgery, growing at 13 percent.

The biggest player will be Medtronic, but other players in the cardio sector will have some interesting contributions to this area as well, according to the report. Medtronic is forecast to achieve annual sales of $44.1 billion, representing a 5.9 percent share of the medical device market.

Although it is “shrinking slightly,” in vitro diagnostics will remain the largest device area in 2028 with annual sales of $113.4 billion, giving it a 15 percent share of the total medical device industry, according to the report. “Notably, this is a lower market share than it occupied in 2021, since the COVID pandemic spurred sales of diagnostics markedly in 2020 and 2021; without those revenues, this segment’s share of the overall market will shrink.”

Sherrie Trigg

Editor and Director of Medical Content

For a copy of the report, go here .