Medtech industry confronted with growing challenges
Published: Tuesday, Jun 11th 2024, 14:50
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The medtech industry is facing numerous challenges that are likely to require significant adjustments in the coming years. Adrian Hunn, the new Director of the Swiss Medtech Association, conveyed this message to guests at this year's Swiss Medtech Day.
The 45-year-old took up his post as Association Director at the beginning of June. In addition to Hunn as operational director, the association is now led by FDP member of the Council of States Damian Müller as president. Müller is working at a political level to ensure that devices approved in the USA are also approved in Switzerland. This would strengthen innovation and facilitate access to new technologies, as Hunn explained in the Kursaal in Bern on Tuesday.
He emphasized that Switzerland should become the European headquarters for medtech companies and be recognized worldwide as the number one medtech cluster. The visit of US Ambassador Scott Miller to this year's Swiss Medtech Day in turn underlined the importance of relations with North America and the US market for the industry.
"Deal with complexity or you disappear".
In addition to political and regulatory issues, the industry is also facing a number of other challenges. Companies must therefore develop innovative solutions and integrate them successfully in order to remain competitive, emphasized Hunn.
Heiko Visarius, owner of Visartis Healthcare, who hosted the event, also emphasized the importance of dealing with increasing complexity for the sector: "Deal with complexity or you disappear" is the order of the day, Visarius stressed.
He went on to explain how customer needs have changed drastically. "In the past, doctors were often approached directly to sell medical products. Today, it is mainly financial experts who evaluate the profitability of investments in Excel files," said Visarius.
Award for the Oertli company
In addition to these rather worrying topics, there were also celebrations at the event. As every year, the Swiss Medtech Award was presented. The prize of 75,000 Swiss francs went to the Berneck-based company Oertli Instrumente.
The prize money is sponsored by industry giants Sonova, Straumann and Ypsomed. The candidates are judged on criteria such as patient benefit, contribution to improving healthcare and technological pioneering spirit.
According to the Swiss Medtech Association, it has around 750 members. The industry as a whole employs around 67,000 people in Switzerland. 800 of them made their way to the Kursaal in Bern on Tuesday.
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