A Digital Bounce Back Post Covid-19

MedTech industry is at the epicentre of the COVID-19 crisis. Supplying everything, from protective masks, gowns, gloves to diagnostics kits to ventilators, the industry is essentially a lifeline during these troubled times. Since this is a novel virus, the epidemiology of the disease wasn’t clearly understood. Therefore, clear diagnostic and care pathways could not be carved out. And yet, within a record time of just two to three months, medtech firms have come up with game-changing innovations to address the unmet clinical needs of the market.

- Sujeet Sudhir

Sujeet Sudhir, Director, Business Development, Cyient, India

As the medical device companies are pressure tested to deliver in these trying times, they face herculean challenges, including disrupted supply chains, increasing operational costs, adjusting to new demand for elective surgeries post COVID-19, improving R&D productivity, launching market-ready products quickly and reconfiguring manufacturing.

Digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), Industry 4.0, cloud, mobile, additive manufacturing have shown a lot of promise to help medtech companies overcome the current challenges. Unfortunately, scaling these technologies across ecosystems and geographies has been a significant roadblock. This includes delays in clinical trials and lengthy procedures to market access. Given the new realities, adopting these technologies is no longer an option. The organizations that will quickly rebound post-COVID-19 will be the ones that will leverage digital as a core to their operations.