COVID-19 Impact on Medical Devices Industry – Thematic Research

On December 31, 2019, China reported a suspicious case cluster of atypical pneumonia in the city of Wuhan to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, the situation developed into an outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and has been declared a pandemic. As infections spread across the globe, there have been tremendous effects, and the impact on the medical device sector is significant.

COVID-19 caused delays and shortages from the start, and while many aspects of healthcare are returning to normal, some shortages are still happening because of the pandemic. In the beginning, many hospitals and healthcare organizations experienced a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks, face shields, gloves, and gowns. Many hospitals were overwhelmed with patients, causing a shortage in beds and ventilators. Several procedures (such as diagnostic imaging and elective surgeries) were put on hold while healthcare workers focused on COVID-19 patients. Medical device companies worked quickly to produce more PPE, COVID-19 tests, and other devices in high demand, while other aspects of the sector suffered significant losses.

The COVID-19 Impact on Medical Devices Industry – Thematic Intelligence research report provides a thematic brief of those companies most likely to succeed in a world filled with disruptive threats. The report predicts how each theme will evolve and identify the leading and disrupting companies.

Key Therapy Areas

Diagnostic imaging, cardiovascular devices, hospital supplies, anesthesia and respiratory (A&R) devices, general surgery devices, and in vitro diagnostics have all been significantly impacted by COVID-19. Some have experienced device shortages, while others have been repeatedly put on hold. Some of the key therapy areas are listed below:

• Diagnostic Imaging – The diagnostic imaging sector was impacted by COVID-19 in a couple of different ways. In some cases, diagnostic imaging was seeing an influx of patients, as certain procedures, such as X-rays, would help physicians diagnose or monitor COVID-19. On the other hand, many diagnostic imaging procedures were put on hold, causing a large backlog of X-rays, ultrasounds, magnetic resonance images (MRIs), mammograms, and more. As a result, there was also a postponement in installing capital equipment in hospitals.

• Cardiovascular Diseases – When the COVID-19 pandemic began, many sectors within healthcare saw a pause in different procedures and elective surgeries. The cardiovascular market was severely impacted by such delays, seeing a seven-month delay in surgeries, causing the market to decrease. Cardiovascular market leaders have reported significant growth since the vaccine rollout, and as many countries ended various healthcare restrictions, they have been able to start making up for the backlog of procedures.

• Hospital Supplies – When the pandemic started, the world was immediately hit with a PPE shortage. There was an increased need for masks, gloves, gowns, goggles, and more, but not enough of these supplies to keep up with the demand. Many companies had to increase production, and new manufacturers also began production. As PPE demand slowly got better, the COVID-19 vaccines began to roll out, causing a need for other hospital supplies, such as syringes and needles. While the numbers are not as high as they were in 2020 or 2021, demand for PPE and vaccine supplies is still relatively high.

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Impact of COVID-19 on Medical Devices Industry – Industry Analysis

Diagnostic imaging, cardiovascular devices, and general surgery devices all decreased in 2020 due to the postponement of various procedures. However, Diagnostic Imaging decreased slightly less than other therapy areas, in part because of certain procedures increasing due to COVID-19 diagnoses and monitoring. On the other hand, Hospital Supplies, A&R Devices, and IVD all saw an increase in 2020. This is due to the increased demand for PPE (hospital supplies) and ventilators (A&R devices), both attributed to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 impact on medical devices market analysis also covers:

• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Patent Trends
• COVID-19 Timeline

COVID-19 Impact and Recovery on Medical Devices Market

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Leading Companies in the Medical Devices Industry

Some of the leading companies within the six therapy areas that have persevered throughout the COVID-19 pandemic are:

• Abbott Laboratories
• Boston Scientific
• Bracco
• Cardinal Health
• Dragerwerk
• Hoffmann-La Roche

COVID-19 Impact on Medical Devices Sector Scorecard

GlobalData uses a scorecard approach to predict tomorrow’s leading companies within each sector. The sector scorecards help to determine which companies are best positioned for a future filled with disruptive threats. Each sector scorecard has three screens:

• The thematic screen shows who are the overall leaders in the 10 themes that matter most, based on the thematic engine.
• The valuation screen shows whether publicly listed players appear cheap or expensive relative to their peers, based on consensus forecasts from investment analysts.
• The risk screen shows who the riskiest players in each industry are, based on the assessment of four risk categories: operational risk, financial risk, industry risk, and country risk.

Medical Devices Sector Scorecard – Thematic Screen

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COVID-19 Medical Devices Industry Overview

Reasons to Buy

• GlobalData’s thematic research ecosystem is a single, integrated global research platform that provides an easy-to-use framework for tracking all themes across all companies in all sectors. It has a proven track record of identifying the important themes early, enabling companies to make the right investments ahead of the competition, and secure that all-important competitive advantage.
• Develop and design your corporate strategies through an in-house expert analysis of COVID-19 by understanding the primary ways in which this theme is impacting the medical devices industry.
• Stay up to date on the industry’s major players and where they sit in the value chain.
• Identify emerging industry trends to gain a competitive advantage.