What opportunities exist on the global scene for medical device companies? How can a smaller company increase sales by accessing international markets? What are the regulatory and IP issues I might face overseas? Joining us virtually to discuss unique international opportunities are Rick Hughes, Xingzhou Liu, and Tony Moyer. These experts represent European, Chinese, and Japanese perspectives, respectively, each having offices in the Triangle region. Below are excerpts from each of their comments, followed by the link to read more at NCMD's Web site:

"Maximizing profits in Europe ," by Rick Hughes
American Medical Device companies constantly strive to maximize their opportunities in Western Europe as it the second largest market following the United States . The global medical device market is currently estimated at $239m of which $71m makes up the European market or 30% of the total worldwide market. Germany , France , Italy and the UK make up over 72% of the European medical device market*. Even though there have been vast improvements for conducting business over the past few years in Europe, differences in language, culture and distance continue to be a challenge for new or established US companies looking for revenue growth and increased market share...
[To read the full text of Hughes' article, visit www.NCMedicalDevice.org/Updates/Europe.html]

"China’s Medical Device Industry Potential," by Xingzhou Liu
China ’s economy has grown, on average, eight percent per year for almost a quarter century. This growth has created a huge demand for the products, services and knowledge that Western companies can supply, especially those in the medical devices industry, since the young domestic manufacturers can only provide about half of the present market needs. China still has long way to go to build the necessary infrastructure to produce medical devices to satisfy the drastically increasing demands....
[To read the full text of Liu's column, visit www.NCMedicalDevice.org/Updates/China.html]

"Entering the Japanese Market," by Tony Moyer
Japan , with a GDP of $3,993.4 billion, is the world’s second largest economy. Its population of 127.5 million enjoys a per capita income comparable to that of the United States . Japan spends 8% of GDP on health, and with the highest longevity in the world can be expected to increase expenditures on medical care for the elderly over the next decade. It offers a unified national market, single language, relatively homogenous population and culture, high education levels (99% literacy), safe and stable society, reasonable protection for intellectual property, and an easily convertible currency. There are certainly distinctive features when viewed from an American perspective. Distribution networks are complex; at 526 persons per MD, the population of doctors is relatively low, but at 16.5 hospital beds per 1,000 of population, it ranks behind only Switzerland in this statistic, and has among the longest average hospital stays in the world (40.8 days)...
[To read the full text of Moyer's column, visit www.NCMedicalDevice.org/Updates/Japan.html]

NCMD Events Update:

For more information on events, NCMD member discounts, and to provide feedback, please visit: www.NCMedicalDevice.org/Events.html

August 23, 2005: NC State ISO 13485 training course at Centennial Campus
September 26, 2005: Charlotte 's Emerging Role in Biotechnology Conference
October 12, 2005: CED's 15th Annual InfoTech Conference
October 26, 2005: Medical Device Forum
December 7, 2005: Combination Information Technology / Med Device Forum

NCMD is having an event planning committee meeting on August 30th at 1:00. NCMD members interested in joining this committee should contact Andrew DiMeo at Andrew@NCMedicalDevice.org for more information.

Your Feedback Requested:
NCMD is considering a collaboration with AdvaMed's Medical Technology Learning Institute to offer a 510(k) training course in our area. To provide your feedback on such an opportunity, please visit www.NCMedicalDevice.org/Events.html