Inside MedTech - The biggest threats to MedTech in Europe

Having recently attended a number of events in Europe, notably The MedTech Europe Forum in Vienna, as well as connecting with various KOL’s, I have been able to collate a number of key trends and insights.

The two hottest topics, discussed again and again have been talent and innovation.  I will attempt to summarise why both represent the biggest threat AND opportunity to MedTech companies in Europe.

Talent

Talent is a broad term, one I have used deliberately to try and capture the vast array of conversations and presentations that focused on people and tenure. Whether it’s CEO’s of the largest MedTech organisations, founders of innovative start-ups or anything in between, people represent the biggest threat and challenge to our industry.

To set the scene, there are some stark facts that emphasise just how serious the problem could be. The WHO predicts a shortfall of 7-10 million skilled healthcare workers by 2030. Other stats say we will have a shortfall of 33% of skilled workers in Life Sciences in the same timeframe. To further compound the situation, average tenure in Life Sciences has fallen below 3 years for the first time.

People being the heartbeat of any successful company isn’t new, but these stats underline the importance of ensuring your talent strategy is best in class. Nearly every talk I attended at The MedTech Forum made reference to attraction and retention in some way shape or form.

From an attraction perspective, it is being described as the most challenging market for talent attraction that many have ever experienced.  Many companies have now identified they need to market themselves better, however, most don’t know how. For a long time in MedTech and the wider Life Science sector, the focus has been on being patient centric. In reality, all companies in healthcare should be patient centric and that is not enough on it’s own. It is more important than ever before to create a unique value proposition and to market effectively.

Focusing on retention, it goes without saying that retaining your best people has always been important, but when you consider how hard it is to attract new talent, this has taken on even more significance. With the average tenure dropping so low, it is also creating a huge issue with companies losing specific knowledge and expertise from within the business and having no means of replacing it. Such is the impact on some organisations when they lose certain experts and the knowledge that goes with them, they are now proactively thinking about what happens if someone leaves, right from the point of onboarding. This is being referred to as ‘knowledge management’. While I think it is sensible to have contingency plans in place, I can’t help but feel there are much better solutions available.

I think it is particularly important to highlight these challenges as there is a common perception within the industry that such is the volume of layoffs, that there is a surplus of talent readily available. This just isn’t the case. Taking all of this into consideration, now is the time to invest in your people and your talent attraction & talent management strategies.

Innovation

There is a major concern in Europe that innovation is landing elsewhere, which is in no small part due to MDR and the complex regulatory landscape. For years, Europe was seen as the innovation hub. The place that innovation landed first. The market that companies targeted to launch their products. Right now, that simply isn’t the case.

What is interesting, is that there is just as much innovation happening in Europe, if not more, than ever before. The reality though, is that this is either not launching in Europe at all, or is reaching European healthcare systems much later. Europe MedTech holds the 2nd largest number of patents in all industries globally, yet 48% of European Medical Device companies have expressed that Europe won’t be their first market for regulatory approval.

Even with a glass half full, Europe is being de-prioritised; with a glass half empty, Europe is experiencing a MedTech exodus.

There are two trains of thought here, one being that MDR has over complicated the process, the other being that FDA has over simplified the process. The reality probably sits somewhere in the middle. What the industry seemingly wants, is global regulatory governance and I absolutely see the benefits. We certainly shouldn’t create a dynamic where governing bodies are competing to get products to market first. I am the biggest advocate for innovation, I am so passionate about our incredible industry and the difference it makes every single day. But we cannot compromise safety and we cannot create an environment where the process is expedited. To be clear, I am not saying that is happening, but we do need to be careful with the MDR v FDA battle.

In fairness, the consistent complaints around MDR are actually about the inconsistencies and complexities. No one is asking for a process that is less stringent. Equally, there is little point continuing to moan about MDR itself, it’s happening. What can be done though, is for the process to become more transparent and to promote more predictability. This is what companies want and this is how Europe can regain it’s competitive edge.

What is going to be interesting, is the noise from the UK and Switzerland that they are looking to follow suit on the model being used in some Middle Eastern markets, which is accepting FDA approval for market access.

Europe used to be regarded as the centre of innovation and CE Mark used to be the golden egg, can it return to this status in the years to come?

Data & Healthcare

One final interesting topic that deserves it’s own blog is data in healthcare and the opportunity it presents. 30% of all data produced is healthcare. We currently use 3% of healthcare data. Imagine what can be done with the other 97%, especially when two thirds of the population are happy to have their data used for preventative healthcare.

I mentioned at the start of the article that these challenges don’t just present a threat to our industry, but also an opportunity. I am really passionate about that and I believe that we can become the destination industry for top talent in all sectors and we can create a safety-first, efficient process for regulatory approval, meaning more safe innovation is landing in our healthcare systems sooner.

I hope this blog has been an interesting and informative read. If you’d like any more information about anything I have referenced today, or would like to discuss how you can create a best in class talent strategy, get in touch!

Keep on making a difference MedTech!