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GlobalData highlights the need for ESG commitment by medical device companies

Medical device companies with increased transparency that meet their ESG goals will gain stakeholder support, which will further incentivise change.

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April 22 marked Earth Day. Globally, organisations, governments, individuals, and companies highlight the current environmental issues and spark inspiration and action to combat climate change. GlobalData conducted a survey to collect environmental, social, and governance (ESG) sentiments from individuals for Q1 2023.

Interestingly, only 9.8% of respondents said that most businesses are fully committed to ESG, whereas 46.1% of respondents believed that most companies use ESG as a marketing exercise, compared to 30.2% that shared the same sentiments in Q4 2022. This sharp increase in individuals not believing many companies’ ESG strategies may be due to the lack of tangible action the companies have made. For example, if a company has pledged to reduce carbon emissions in 2022 and failed to release data on how the company reduced emissions and the amount reduced, stakeholders are hesitant to believe the company.

Credit: Getty Images/fstop123 

Therefore, not only do companies need to publish their ESG strategies, but companies also need to follow through and show transparent data on their progress in combating ESG issues. Medical device companies with increased transparency that meet their ESG goals will gain stakeholder support, which will further incentivise change.

05/22/2024 23:11:23

Theme innovation landscape

Leading medical companies in the ESG theme

Credit: Bert van Dijk/Getty images.

The future of the medical industry will be shaped by a range of disruptive themes, with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) being one of the themes that will have a significant impact on medical companies.

Sustainability or ESG is one of the most important themes for both 2021 and the next decade. Sustainability used to be just about saving the planet. Today it has morphed into an umbrella term covering all ESG issues.

Citizens, governments, regulators, and the media are turning the spotlight on corporations and demanding action. Social inequality, corruption, tax avoidance, and a lack of action on climate change are all issues that companies must now address directly, in full public view. All aspects of ESG are important, and across the healthcare industry companies must excel across all three categories. A GlobalData poll of healthcare industry professionals found that over 40% of respondents believed that environmental issues were the most important issue to be addressed, followed by approximately 30% for social issues and 25% for governance issues.

However, not all companies are equal when it comes to their capabilities and investments in the key themes that matter most to their industry. Understanding how companies are positioned and ranked in the most important themes can be a key leading indicator of their future earnings potential and relative competitive position.

According to GlobalData’s thematic research report, ESG in Healthcare, leading adopters include: FMC, Ortosintese and Siemens.

Insights from a top ranked company

Siemens

Since 2006, Siemens Healthcare has operated a globally uniform environment, health, and safety (EHS) management system, and the company now has 11 products in its environmental portfolio. One of its green products is the Somatom Definition Flash computed tomography (CT) scanner, which requires only a fraction of the radiation dose that systems previously needed to scan even the smallest details.

The system offers the highest speeds and lowest radiation levels of any CT scanner currently on the market. A cardiac scan, for example, can be performed with less than one millisievert (mSv), while the average effective dose for this procedure generally amounts to 8–20mSv. During a thorax examination, it uses 45% less energy on average than its predecessor, the Somatom Definition, while the corresponding savings on a cardiac examination amounts to 85%.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the medical industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on ESG in Healthcare.

Abbott
Apple
Hill-Rom
DexCom
Alphabet
Stryker
Zimmer Biomet
Agilent Tech
Qiagen
Boston Scientific
Nihon Kohden
Danaher
Becton Dickinson
Intuitive Surgical
Baxter
Omron
Illumina
Teleflex
Garmin
Smith & Nephew
Biotronik
Getinge
Coloplast
Terumo
MicroPort

G lobalDat a, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis;used to produce this article.

GlobalData’s Thematic Intelligence uses proprietary data, research, and analysis to provide a forward-looking perspective on the key themes that will shape the future of the world’s largest industries and the organisations within them.

The Thematic Scorecard uses authoritative data and expert analyst judgement to rank companies based on their overall leadership in specific themes, generating a leading indicator of their future earnings and relative strategic position.

05/22/2024 23:11:07

Theme innovation landscape

Environmental sustainability innovation: leading companies in biomedical 3D printing for the medical devices industry

Credit: Bert van Dijk/Getty images.

The medical devices industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by increased need for homecare, preventative treatments, early diagnosis, reducing patient recovery times and improving outcomes, as well as a growing importance in technologies such as machine learning, augmented reality, 5G and digitalization. In the last three years alone, there have been over 450,000 patents filed and granted in the medical devices industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Environment Sustainability in Medical Devices: Biomedical 3D Printing.

However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.

Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.

150+ innovations will shape the medical devices industry

According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the medical devices industry using innovation intensity models built on over 550,000 patents, there are 150+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.

Within the emerging innovation stage, robotic 3D bio-printing and 3D printed prosthesis are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Sharps disposal containers, biomedical 3D printing, and tooth 3D printing are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are bio-compatible surgical adjuncts and bio-active prosthesis sealing, which are now well established in the industry.

Innovation S-curve for environment sustainability in the medical devices industry

Biomedical 3D printing is a key innovation area in environment sustainability

Biomedical 3D printing is the process of creating a 3D replica of products matching the patient’s anatomy, based on their imaging data. Also called additive manufacturing, this technology is preferred over traditional methods where products are created through moulding or carving.

Biomedical 3D printing can be used to create objects by placing layers of materials, such as plastics, ceramics, and metal. The manufacturers will be able to make custom objects with the help of magnetic resonance image (MRI) or computer-aided design (CAD) drawings, based on requirements.

GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies.  According to GlobalData, there are 40+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established medical devices companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of biomedical 3D printing.

Key players in biomedical 3D printing – a disruptive innovation in the medical devices industry

‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.

‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.

Align Technology is one of the leading patent filers in the field of biomedical 3D printing. Some other key patent filers in the field include Carbon and Mitsui Chemicals.

In terms of application diversity, Becton Dickinson leads the pack, followed by Stryker and Orthopaedic Innovation Centre. By means of geographic reach, Stratasys holds the top position, followed by DWS and Berkshire Hathaway in the second and third spots, respectively.

Biomedical 3D printing technology has paved the way to create customized orthopaedic implants, prosthetics, and dental restorations. The demand for this market will continue to increase given the possibility of the technology being used for teaching purposes and producing 3D organs for transplant.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the medical devices industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Medical Devices.

GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.

GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.