(11/2020) The medical technology industry is suffering from a pandemic-related slump in sales, excessive regulatory requirements and a lack of appreciation by the public and politics. This is shown by the results of the BVMed autumn survey 2020. In addition to the problems, medical technology companies now also have a lot to offer - including a solution for setting up a national reserve.
Medical devices are systemically relevant, emphasized BVMed CEO Dr. Meinrad Lugan at the virtual presentation of the autumn 2020 survey: "Remove medical devices from the clinic, the doctor's office, the ambulance - and there won't be much left." Medical devices are indispensable against the background of the pandemic. And yet he still has to "pour a little water into the wine" because the industry is still not getting the political support it needs. Because the numbers of the survey show one thing very clearly: Medtech companies are also suffering from the economic consequences of the Covid 19 pandemic.
Sales development and profits
56 percent of the companies surveyed are assuming a decline in sales this year. In the case of a third of the companies, the decline in sales is even in the double-digit range. In particular, the postponement of elective interventions and fewer visits to the doctor depressed sales, which, according to BVMed managing director Marc-Pierre Möll, "can by no means be compensated for by the increased demand for medical protective equipment and hygiene products". The implants sector saw a decline of 7.9 percent, while surgical products and surgical sets fell by 6.7 percent. The weighted sales figures of the BVMed companies result in an average sales decline of 2.1 percent in the German market. The unweighted value, however, is minus 4.9 percent. Smaller companies with a turnover of less than 25 million euros even recorded an average turnover decline of 6.4 percent. The situation is exacerbated by the decline in exports, which play a major role for the industry. The export quota of German medical technology was around 65 percent in 2019. Due to the pandemic, the expected global sales development for this year is even worse than the domestic development with an average minus of 4.7 percent. But the development of the profit situation of companies in Germany is also worrying. Almost two thirds of the companies assume that their profit situation will deteriorate. In the previous year it was only 43 percent. The difficult economic situation is also having an impact on investment activity in the sector. While 21 percent of the companies in the survey stated that they were increasing their investments in the location - for example by building up new production capacities for medical protective products in Germany - 29 percent of the companies stated that they had to reduce their investments in the location compared to the previous year .
Effects of the pandemic
Operations postponed by the lockdown are the most important factor behind the decline in sales in the medtech industry. 70 percent of the companies surveyed are affected. 57 percent cite restrictions on customer contacts as a negative factor and almost half suffer from a lack of visits to the doctor and the associated decline in prescriptions. However, the survey results clearly show one thing: topics such as digitization and protection against infection are becoming significantly more important. Almost two thirds of the companies surveyed expect both increasing acceptance and more investment in the digitization of health care.
MedTech job market
Although the pandemic is also having a negative impact on the industry, there is good news: Many companies want to keep their staff - 38 percent use the instrument of short-time working - and 27 percent are even creating new jobs. In contrast, however, are 18 percent of the Unte
