European Hospitals Invest in Advanced Wound Care Products

The rising incidence of lifestyle diseases and an expanding, aging population are driving the sales volumes of wound care and closure products across Europe. These are the latest findings of Frost & Sullivan (Frost; London, United Kingdom), an international market research firm.

Hospitals in both Western and Eastern Europe are increasingly showing a preference for advanced wound care products that accelerate healing, as they realize that prolonged hospital stays and bed occupancy are a bigger cost burden than investment in these solutions. Patients as well are finding that advanced wound care products are easier to use and more comfortable than traditional ones, giving a boost to the adoption rates. The increase in the volume of open surgical procedures is also fuelling demand for wound closure products.

As a result, doctors across Western and Eastern Europe are particularly adopting new wound closure technologies that support scar-free surgery. However, the lack of reimbursement for some of these advanced wound care and closure products is lowering market potential. The market is further complicated by the proliferation of products from Asian markets and other regions. Moreover, the inability of hospitals to invest in costly technologies such as negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is forcing market participants to reassess their pricing strategies.

“Wound care product manufacturers have already started making NPWT and other active therapies more affordable by introducing rental models, portable solutions, and other cost-effective alternatives,” said Frost & Sullivan healthcare research analyst Parthasarathy Raghava. “They should continue finding ways to ensure that high-technology wound care solutions fit into current healthcare budgets.”

According to the Frost report, innovative pricing strategies and product differentiation will be vital to increase profits, and wound closure product manufacturers will do well to launch products that have unique features and can deal with multiple types of wounds to stand out from the competition. Frost & Sullivan have found that the Western and Eastern European wound care and wound closure market earned revenues of USD 4.41 billion in 2013, and estimates that this could reach USD 6.41 billion in 2019.

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