Top Ten Pitfalls to New Medical Device Launches

Executive Summary

It is not uncommon for a new medical device to fail to initially live up to projected sales expectations. Early disappointing product sales can produce a hole that a company can spend a long time trying to dig its way out of, having to battle a declining stock price, decreased investor confidence, lower company valuations, and diminished access to capital. The end result may be that both the product and the company are never able to fully recover from the early set-back. Many initial disappointing product roll-outs can be attributed to problems that commonly confront device companies. Product companies have adopted successful strategies to anticipate and overcome many of these issues, and thereby increase the chances of a new product coming strong out-of-the blocks.