Sustainability Of Medtech In The World Of Shrinking Margins

The Panel was moderated by Dr. Ashwani Aggarwal, Principal Consultant, PwC (Chair) who initiated the discussion by stating that while the broad contours of Indian MedTech industry have remained the same so far, active industry government collaboration has the potential to shape the industry favourably. Medical device rules have brought in much transparency in the sector which was missing earlier. He also mentioned while we used to import high-end machines and export budget machines, right policy framework can help support the vision of Make in India of high end medical device products also.

Probir Das, Regional Representative – India & Asia Pacific, Terumo Corporation & Chairman, Terumo Asia Holding & Managing Director, Terumo India cited the global experience to mention that while Medtech industry has high entry barriers, it does not compromise on the quality and makes the best technology available to everyone in an equitable manner. 

Rajiv Kapahi, Sr. Director: India Hub – Finance, Operations & Distribution, Boston Scientific India said that commercial models must be worked on priority to improve the standards of the industry. He said that we don’t have to think about price reduction at present, but we have to think about the shortage of doctors, medical infrastructure and other basic necessities. He opined that if we think about cost efficiency now, we may have to compromise on the quality of research and innovation. He emphasized on the need for private sector to have a viable commercial model to attract investments. The last two bouts of sub-optimal medical devices price control has dented capacity of several enterprises to maintain investment levels.

Harash Malhotra, VP - Diagnostic Imaging, Sales, Siemens Healthineers said that solution must be based on Fair Trade Margins. Dr. Harsh Mahajan, Founder & Chief Radiologist, Mahajan Imaging said that we require both high-end technologies as well as cost efficiency and recently, Research and Development agencies are taking care of it.

Anjan Bose, Secretary-General, NATHEALTH pointed out that Medtech companies are getting pressures from the market to develop a sustainable healthcare ecosystem. He added that any good company has to look at the deliverables while keeping in mind the factor of affordability. 

Dr. Harish Pillai, CEO, Aster India, however, pointed out that India has a collective brainpower and we need to be mission-centric in our approach in the healthcare sector also. He emphasized that we need to re-engineer our financial models. He said that we must fight the perceptions that people have in their minds.