Guj medical device makers eye western Europe market

As the western European markets throw up opportunities for polymer based medical devices, Gujarat based players are gearing up to up exports to the EU nations.

As of now, countries in Africa and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region comprise bulk of the medical devices exports from the region, while the share of European countries is around 10-15 per cent at the moment.

There are around 200 medical device making companies in Gujarat with a turnover of roughly around Rs 250-300 crore, estimated D L Pandya, an industry expert and owner of a publication on market research on medical devices industry. He added that around 25-30 per cent of the net production is exported.

For exports to the European nations, CE certification is required, that is, the devices should carry a CE mark on them. As Pandya points out, in the last five years, thanks to the cluster development initiatives taken up by the government agencies as well as non-profit organisations, Gujarat based device makers have opted for both ISO and CE certifications. As a result, number of companies with CE certifications has gone up from hardly one or two around a couple of years back to around 30-40 companies now.

An executive in Intas Pharmaceuticals which has a medical devices wing said on grounds of anonymity that the company was indeed increasing its focus on the western European markets.

Intas was initially focussed on the US medical devices market for cardiac stents etc, but had presence across European and South African markets as well.

A recent study by Frost & Sullivan suggests that western European market for polymers in medical devices is set to break the one billion euros barrier in six years’ time, boosted by an aging population and the increasing replacement of glass and metals in healthcare equipment. The market earned revenues of 602 million euros in 2011.

Gandhinagar based Sahajanand Laser Technologies which makes cardiac catheters and ophthalmic products as well a number of orthopaedic implants is also upping its exports to Europe.