Success in Medical Technology Is Predictable

Market research has a positive impact on the research and development projects of medical technology manufacturers, according to data information intelligence (dii; Leipzig, Germany), an established and experienced market research company.

According to dii, market research supports all decisions within the product lifecycle, and it is essential for the companies during the planning phase as well as for the monitoring phase. It often allows predicting, even before starting actions, whether they will be useful at all for the company, and assures that future plans are based on rationales that arise from verified facts. Thus, if a company wants to develop a new product and is considering two feasible possibilities, they would like to know first which model would report major commercial success.

To find that out, it is necessary to incorporate a number of variables in an analytical model, and it is important to decide in advance, which of these parameters will be crucial. Some such parameters could be market potential, likely market penetration, developing costs, or manufacturing and sales costs. But weak factors also play an important role; companies often find that self image, staff structure, as well as possible displacement processes and existing products could decide the success of the company. But market research is also helpful during the implementation phase, as well as the subsequent sales phase, as it makes it possible to monitor business and success control.

“If you want to come to a conclusion through market research whose results are significant in future business decisions, it is important to define all relevant indicators influencing factors and situations, to be able to evaluate and compare different circumstances afterwards,” concluded Kathrin Franke, managing consultant at dii. “Market needs and thus future business success can be predicted. This is especially applicable to the highly specialized medical technology market.”

For example, dii performed a study in Europe in 2009 on molecular diagnostics, analyzing a total of 322 labs in Germany that operate in this field. The total volume of diagnostic tests was 4.5 million tests per annum, almost twice the number of tests performed in France. But at the same time, independent labs complained about the limited reimbursement by health insurance companies, and as a result there is a limitation on their portfolio of tests. Consequently, on average, only about ten different molecular tests are performed per lab. Thanks to these findings, the existing market potential for molecular diagnostics can be properly assessed, and concrete business steps can be developed.

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