Nottingham (Feb. 12 2015) – The United Kingdom’s healthcare and life science industry is shifting its strategy, in part due to continued austerity measures and cutbacks in healthcare funding. A recent study from Maetrics, a full-service life science consulting firm, shows life science companies now have their sights set on emerging markets for valuable growth opportunities – but they are also concerned about meeting regulatory requirements in these territories.
As healthcare spending dries up at home, with the National Health Service (NHS) set to achieve an unprecedented efficiency savings of £20bn by March 2015 and a further efficiency target of £50bn by 2020, many UK healthcare and life science businesses are looking past the UK’s borders for growth. Thanks to increasing life expectancy and growing middle classes in emerging markets, life science companies are reporting a growing and urgent demand for medical products.
However, with this opportunity comes a challenge for the industry: compliance with an increased range of complex national regulatory systems. Half of the respondents to the Maetrics survey report that the biggest challenge for 2015 will be regulatory compliance with these emerging markets, with resources, time and budget constraints presenting further obstacles. Some 43% expressed concern about finding qualified staff in these markets who have life science knowledge.
“The research highlights that healthcare spending by governments and the stability of the economy remain huge concerns for the healthcare and life sciences industry. Emerging market expansion can continue to offer an appealing solution for businesses that are feeling pressure in mature economies, but ensuring compliance with different regulations is going to be tough,” said Peter Rose, managing director at Maetrics.
Additional key findings:Preparation for new product launch is the second most prevalent concern of survey respondents, with 46% citing it as a top challenge.
In 2015, reduced healthcare spending by developed country governments is expected to continue to be a major challenge for 43% of firms.
A quarter (26%) of respondents are concerned about the stability of the economy.
A fifth (19%) believe that getting merger and acquisition support will be an obstacle in 2015, not surprising since 2014 M&A activity was nearly double 2013 levels and is not slowing down.
61% report difficulties with implementing regulations to their specific environment.
60% say that regulations are hard to interpret and change too often.
While the life science industry has some concerns about emerging market expansion, the opportunity for growth is potentially unprecedented.
“Having a strong quality and compliance team, whether internally or externally through a consulting partner, is more important now than ever before,” Rose continued. “It’s clear that the key to fully leveraging the opportunities in emerging markets is confidence in interpreting and implementing regulations. This is a historic and exciting time for the industry.”
The study, conducted by leading business analyst MindMetre, surveyed more than 50 compliance and quality management professionals from four life sciences sectors, including pharmaceutical, medical device, biotechnology and nutrition – with participants from both large corporations and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) – to determine the industry outlook, examine growth drivers and provide insight into planning and buying behaviours.
Specific findings in the pharmaceutical sector include concern over the increasing burden of pharmacovigilance and the need to increase testing in pediatric medicines. In the medical device sector, the main challenge is mandatory unannounced inspections, with a concern specifically on the IT front about Unique Device Identifier (UDI) requirements for companies with customers in the USA.
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About Maetrics
Maetrics is a full-service life sciences consulting firm. Founded in 1984, Maetrics has evolved to become a global force supporting a significant number of pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and medical device firms with their most critical enterprise compliance, performance improvement, risk management, information technology and organizational change management initiatives. Our company is exclusively focused on the life science industry, enabling us to provide superior insights to our clients. Our unique business acumen and delivery model have been rewarded by repeated engagements with our client base year after year. Today, with offices throughout the United States and Europe, Maetrics is an acclaimed leader in the life science consulting field.
About MindMetre
MindMetre Research is a leading consumer and business analyst. The organisation has been investigating and reporting on trends in a number of fields and sectors since the late 1990s, particularly healthcare, Web technology, financial services and marketing. MindMetre research programmes are regularly conducted across the globe, embracing geographies from the Americas to the Far East. In the healthcare sector, MindMetre is particularly known for its series on healthcare financing, beginning in the early 2000s.
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As healthcare spending dries up at home, with the National Health Service (NHS) set to achieve an unprecedented efficiency savings of £20bn by March 2015 and a further efficiency target of £50bn by 2020, many UK healthcare and life science businesses are looking past the UK’s borders for growth. Thanks to increasing life expectancy and growing middle classes in emerging markets, life science companies are reporting a growing and urgent demand for medical products.
However, with this opportunity comes a challenge for the industry: compliance with an increased range of complex national regulatory systems. Half of the respondents to the Maetrics survey report that the biggest challenge for 2015 will be regulatory compliance with these emerging markets, with resources, time and budget constraints presenting further obstacles. Some 43% expressed concern about finding qualified staff in these markets who have life science knowledge.
“The research highlights that healthcare spending by governments and the stability of the economy remain huge concerns for the healthcare and life sciences industry. Emerging market expansion can continue to offer an appealing solution for businesses that are feeling pressure in mature economies, but ensuring compliance with different regulations is going to be tough,” said Peter Rose, managing director at Maetrics.
Additional key findings:
While the life science industry has some concerns about emerging market expansion, the opportunity for growth is potentially unprecedented.
“Having a strong quality and compliance team, whether internally or externally through a consulting partner, is more important now than ever before,” Rose continued. “It’s clear that the key to fully leveraging the opportunities in emerging markets is confidence in interpreting and implementing regulations. This is a historic and exciting time for the industry.”
The study, conducted by leading business analyst MindMetre, surveyed more than 50 compliance and quality management professionals from four life sciences sectors, including pharmaceutical, medical device, biotechnology and nutrition – with participants from both large corporations and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) – to determine the industry outlook, examine growth drivers and provide insight into planning and buying behaviours.
Specific findings in the pharmaceutical sector include concern over the increasing burden of pharmacovigilance and the need to increase testing in pediatric medicines. In the medical device sector, the main challenge is mandatory unannounced inspections, with a concern specifically on the IT front about Unique Device Identifier (UDI) requirements for companies with customers in the USA.
-Ends-
About Maetrics
Maetrics is a full-service life sciences consulting firm. Founded in 1984, Maetrics has evolved to become a global force supporting a significant number of pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and medical device firms with their most critical enterprise compliance, performance improvement, risk management, information technology and organizational change management initiatives. Our company is exclusively focused on the life science industry, enabling us to provide superior insights to our clients. Our unique business acumen and delivery model have been rewarded by repeated engagements with our client base year after year. Today, with offices throughout the United States and Europe, Maetrics is an acclaimed leader in the life science consulting field.
About MindMetre
MindMetre Research is a leading consumer and business analyst. The organisation has been investigating and reporting on trends in a number of fields and sectors since the late 1990s, particularly healthcare, Web technology, financial services and marketing. MindMetre research programmes are regularly conducted across the globe, embracing geographies from the Americas to the Far East. In the healthcare sector, MindMetre is particularly known for its series on healthcare financing, beginning in the early 2000s.
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