From the August 2012 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
“There are still very few medical products that are developed here in Mexico,” he says. “Only a few Mexican companies develop medical equipment, compared to 50 or more [Brazilian] companies developing medical equipment in Brazil; a quite appalling situation considering that Brazil and Mexico have comparable economies,” Dovarganes says.
On this line, ISE’s González Murillo, stresses the fact that, “Mexican companies have focused too much in serving the lowest end of the market, with very basic and simple products, but have totally neglected the middle and highest ends of the medical devices’ market. There is a problem shaped by the lack of technological transfers that like in the case of Brazil, could have hindered the development of the medical devices´ national industry; likewise there is a certain lack of ambition and confidence from many national medical corporations.”
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This does not mean that there are not local creative companies devoted to product development in the field of medical devices. Alandra Medical is a Mexican firm devoted to research and development of medical devices and clinical trials. Giovanny Sierra, the company’s business development manager, talked about the future of medical devices’ research in the country. “The development of new technologies for medical devices is a very expensive process; that is why we work with the Secretary of Economy and CONACYT who help us to raise the necessary resources to fund our projects in the development of new products. It is important to note that globally, with the 2008 financial crisis, the investment for the development of new medical devices was decelerated. Today, there is a huge interest in this field. Indeed we can say that today the medical devices industry is attracting more attention and resources than the pharmaceutical industry. This is due to the fact that having experienced impressive advances in the last decades, the pharmaceutical industry is now mature and it is difficult and expensive to find innovative formulas.”
Other Mexican local companies have been focused in providing services to the industry and to the health care sector to allow the smooth functioning of the market. This is the case of Finamed; its general manager, Juan Carlos Torres, explains how this innovative and quickly expanding company has contributed to distributors’ operations and the provision of medical clinics and hospitals. “Medical equipment is very expensive and most people are not able to pay in cash. And it is difficult to apply for credit in Mexico since many people are paid in cash and therefore do not develop a credit rating or history with official financial institutions. Finamed addressed this problem with an innovative way to grant credit. We take into account all of a person’s assets; liquid and physical assets, their reputation, involvement with the society, associations they may be involved with, among others. We do leasing and this acts as our guarantee. Medical equipment has a long life and since we are leasing we are guaranteed to make our profit.”
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