The US FDA recently cleared Sight’s Olo analyzer to run complete blood counts on samples as small as two drops. The company is currently marketing Olo to hospital labs in the US but hopes to eventually earn a CLIA waiver so Olo can be marketed to smaller physician practices and pharmacies and used for other common blood-based diagnostics.

For health-care providers and medtech manufacturers alike, the decade ahead will require a coming to terms with digital technologies and integrating new methods of payment. Quality of service delivery remains the market-entry criterion, but companies will have to adapt to evolving health-care models. The stakes are high. Will manufacturers be able to capitalize on the changes in a market that is more competitive and unpredictable than ever?

Japan's JW Pharma has acquired Euvipharm to expand in the Vietnamese pharmaceutical market, Schott and Velesco Pharma have set up new plants as part of their expansion plans, while other key collaborations have been struck.

The up-to-10 million diabetics in Germany could benefit from a more optimal combination of digital tools and conventional case to maintain glucose control, say local IVD companies. But the industry is still waiting on the promised National Diabetes Strategy, while the government talks about more reimbursement support for innovation.