Pharma MNCs looking to capitalize on opportunities in Indian medical technology sector

Mumbai, November 12, 2022:

Multinational pharmaceutical companies are looking to capitalize on opportunities in the Indian medical technology sector resulting from rapid growth in the healthcare sector due to increased government initiatives and public awareness of health issues.
 
“India is well on its way to becoming a major global player in the medical sector, as it has learnt from its challenges and is preparing for everything that may come. People are getting their regular annual health checkups and have become more aware and alert regarding minor health issues as well, especially after Covid. Therefore, it is inevitable that the industry for medical devices used in examination/diagnosis of all minor and major health issues will also grow manifolds. In fact, in the last few years the market for medical devices has expanded significantly and is essential to every stage of the healthcare continuum,” said ChanderShekharSibal, senior vice president - medical division, Fujifilm India.
 
Fujifilm has built a strong innovation legacy and helped millions of people with better healthcare services worldwide.  The biggest market in India for the pharma multinational is healthcare, which involves not only selling products but also solutions. Currently, the healthcare business contributes to almost half of Fujifilm's India business, which includes X-ray imaging devices, ultrasound systems, endoscopy systems, MRI, CT Scanners, Ultrasound, and healthcare IT.
 
The company is expecting double-digit growth in the India business this fiscal led by a strong performance by the healthcare and consumer business since there is huge potential in the market in that space. We reported over 40 per cent growth in our business in India compared to the numbers of pre-Covid period. Fujifilm's medical division has been the key contributor to the company’s growth in India. 60 per cent of our revenue comes from the medical division.?We have expanded our portfolio with the addition of CT Scanners, MRI Machines, and Ultrasound machines, said Sibal.
 
Talking about Fujifilm’s commitment to bringing innovations to India and its various product offerings, he stated, “The healthcare industry has seen a major transformation where the government has taken strong initiatives to provide improved healthcare facilities, infrastructure, and level of care to the citizens. Today, people are better aware and have increased access to insurance and other services. The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed the initiatives of the public and private sectors in the healthcare industry with an increased focus on telemedicine. With the advancements in digital and technological innovations, the Indian healthcare industry is expected to improve multi-folds in the coming times.”
 
Sharing insights on the company’s initiatives in India, Sibal said “We want to strengthen the healthcare Infrastructure in India by digitization and healthcare IT RIS, PACS, 3D, VNA. We are aligning ourselves with the vision of the government by participating in the National Digital Health Mission in a big way through our RIS (Radiology Information System) PACS (Picture archiving and communication system) products.”
 
“In 2019 we launched the “Never Stop: Screening to Reduce Diagnostic Delays” campaign aimed to create awareness of regular screening for tuberculosis. With the campaign, we ran a mobile screening van across 27 cities in North India and screened over 721,000 people at the mobile van and shared a total of 8,104 X-ray reports in 6 months. The campaign is in line with the government’s goal of “TB-free India” by 2025. We also announced the launch of two NURA health screening centers in Gurugram in July and Mumbai in September in partnership with Dr.Kutty's Healthcare to focus on cancer and lifestyle disease screening in India. With the addition of these sites, we are offering screening in a total of three NURA sites, the third one being in Bengaluru,” he added.
 
The 2022 campaign focused on new products spreading awareness about the importance of regular medical tests to eliminate the chance of chronic health ailments and highlight the significance of timely health checkups for people of all ages, he opined.ETHealth