In Vivo's latest rankings of the top 100 revenue earners in the medical technology industry show the groups leading the global market tightening their grip further in 2017. This was partly a function of providers choosing to partner more and more with fewer suppliers who can offer a wider provision of services. But it was steady as she goes for most of the multinational medtechs, with some major exceptions, and there will be more M&A reflected in next year's rankings, based on 2018 revenues.

Medical aesthetics is a unique biopharmaceutical niche that may scare off companies due to the consumer marketing and doctor relationship-building skills needed to compete in this market, but the potential for growth keeps major players engaged and searching for new technology.

Medtronic’s multi-billion-dollar acquisition of Mazor Robotics in 2018 marked a record-breaking milestone for Israel’s life sciences industry as the largest amount ever paid for an Israeli company in the medical sector, beating Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Neuroderm in 2017. In Vivo investigates how aMoon II, a new VC fund, aims to produce the industry’s next big giant.

The cacophony of noise in the modern world is one factor driving the loss of hearing throughout humankind, a condition that until now has not been thought amenable to pharmacological intervention. But with small-molecule approaches to regenerating cells in the inner ear bearing fruit, biotech and pharmaceutical companies are taking renewed interest in the sector. 

Having a single patient's complete health care information all in one place was a dream that US visionaries began to talk up around a decade ago. The idea was that fast, electronic support for doctors would aid clinical decision making and efficiency. Ten years on, there is still much work to do before the dream is realized, says Philips' Carla Kriwet. But a solution is within reach.

As the pipeline and market for novel cell and gene therapies expands, it is time for drug developers to address other critical aspects in the logistical chain – and for these complex therapies a lot of those issues relate to manufacturing. Looking at specific cases, In Vivo has underlined the main manufacturing challenges facing cell and gene therapy developers, and highlighted methods and approaches being used to generate solutions. 

Professor Sir John Bell talks to In Vivo about how the life sciences sector has evolved during his career, lessons he has learned along the way, and the biggest challenges and changes ahead for the industry in 2019.

It was inevitable that Brexit would be the key theme of an interview with Danish Medicines Agency head Thomas Senderovitz earlier this year. The senior European regulator oversees one of the agencies that has taken on new staff to help deal with the impact, in drug regulatory terms, of the vote by the UK in June 2016 to leave the European Union. Senderovitz also chairs the management group of the EU Heads of Medicines Agencies network.

CRISPR is in the headlines once again, but for all the wrong reasons. While germline gene editing remains taboo in legitimate research, it is a reminder that there is much to be learned in ensuring the safety of the technique in general. AstraZeneca has developed a new method which it believes will help avoid off-target effects, an executive explains to In Vivo.

The Asia Pacific region presents large potential opportunities for the development of biosimilar versions of big-selling original biologics as these come out of protection in the major markets. However the regulatory, reimbursement and commercial situation varies greatly country-by-country, presenting a complex mix of factors affecting the overall market outlook for these up and coming biosimilar products.

India’s new government-funded health care program expects to expand access to treatment to more than 100 million families. Can it effectively deliver on its promise and also materially expand opportunities for hospitals and pharma?

US medtech industry association AdvaMed issued a statement on Nov. 25 in reaction to recently published claims from a group of investigative reporters seeking to highlight what is wrong with the medical technology industry and what drives global innovators. The group, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), says it polled 250 journalists from around the world in a bid to assess how devices are tested, approved, marketed and monitored. Is their work balanced and fair, In Vivo asks?

The relative absence of blockbuster M&A within medtech in 2018, compared with recent years, does not mean that consolidation of the industry – and of providers and payers – will not continue apace in 2019 and beyond. In fact, it is written – if not in the stars then possibly in digital coding – that there will be fewer and bigger entities at the top end of the ecosystem of medtech stakeholders. And rising demand will be met more and more by digital tools and functionalities.

Sanofi and Gilead moved down in the rankings of Scrip's top 100 pharmaceutical companies, based on 2017 pharma sales, while Johnson & Johnson, GSK and AbbVie moved up. Shire joined the top 20 just as it is about to be consumed by Takeda.

The recent upsurge in cases of high drug prices being pursued by competition authorities in Europe could help to lay down some markers for judging what is an “excessive” price in future. At the same time, Brexit could see the UK and the EU begin to drift apart in terms of how they apply competition law to pricing issues.