Life sciences:
Medical device and diagnostics
A drop in demand for COVID testing and the rising prominence of chronic diseases have reshaped the medical devices sector over the last year, with medtech playing an increasingly important role as companies and consumers alike look to diagnose conditions with speed and accuracy. Melody Lam, associate director at BioTalent, assesses the year ahead for medical devices.
Here are the key areas leaders need to prepare for in 2024:
Personal medtech – the importance of wearable medical technology.
Antidiabetics and weight loss products – demand increasing in the face of rise in chronic diseases.
A positive year ahead for SMEs – while the larger companies have been forced into layoffs.
There has been a significant increase in wearable medical technology and wireless in-home healthcare over the last year. This has driven higher demand for talent with software as a medical device (SaMD), software in a medical device (SiMD), artificial intelligence and machine learning knowledge across nearly all medtech STEM roles, as companies focus on how to diagnose and treat patients faster and more accurately.
Despite regulatory timeline extensions for in vitro diagnostic medical devices regulation (IVDR) and medical device regulation (MDR) transitions, companies continue to scale technical capabilities within these areas with full-time and contract staff to ensure timely execution and avoid any future impact on global sales.
There’s been an increasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, which has continued the high demand for next-generation continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and insulin delivery technologies globally.
With the recent surge of tirzepatide and semaglutide weight loss medications on the market, we’re seeing a ripple effect across medical device companies, including those who are treating conditions which are suppressed by weight loss. Several organizations are experiencing investors short-selling in anticipation of decreased demand for certain devices such as respiratory care.
Over the last year, there have been significant layoffs at large medtech companies, especially those with products focused on COVID diagnostics, as their COVID testing businesses dropped from the peaks seen in the early years of the pandemic. At the other end of the scale, many small to mid-size organizations, which make up the majority of medical devices firms in the US, are seeing continued growth and revenue as they seek regulatory approval and commercialization for Class II and III devices.
Medtech talent will be top of hiring companies’ wish list as medical technology continues to advance, with in-home medtech increasing in popularity and the global rise in chronic health conditions calling for CGM and insulin delivery technologies.
