Medical devices are one of the most profitable niches in Colombian health. Marisol Sanchez, president of the Camara de Proveedores de Salud, notes that “the medical device sector correlated to roughly COP 2.01 trillion (USD 1.1 billion) in 2012, with more than 10 percent growth from last year. Ninety percent of medical devices in Colombia are imported. However, national medical devices companies have been successful, and some of them are even exporting to Central America and other parts of South America.” To put this in perspective, the medical device market in Colombia is bigger than that of Mexico, where the pharmaceutical industry has traditionally been stronger.

The Colombian medical device sector has a solid following despite its high price tag. Carlos Alberto Florez Gonzalez, Andean general manager of medical device company Medtronic Latin America, says that “Colombia has well trained doctors working in very well developed hospitals, and they really understand the benefits of this new technology. These doctors are also continuing to improve their knowledge by frequently visiting hospitals and participating in different local and international congresses, where they can learn about new developments in technology and bring this information back to Colombia. They understand the ultimate benefits for patients.”

Florez founded the Colombian affiliate of Medtronic in 2008 and has led the affiliate in rapid growth. Medtronic Colombia initially used a distributor network to sell products, but is transitioning to a more direct presence in the country with a brand image focus. Medtronic Colombia also runs operations in Venezuela and Mexico. “Now is the time to leverage the knowledge that we have acquired here in Colombia in countries like Mexico to move to a more direct operation, where the market is still under penetration and development,” said Florez. “Colombia is very important and is one of Medtronic’s countries targeted for solid future growth alongside the traditionally strong markets like the United States, Japan and Western Europe.” Florez expects this growth to come from new technologies, such as the Symplicity therapy for renal denervation, and Melody, a transcatheter pulmonary valve therapy that combines the use of medical devices and medicines.

Despite the availability of these devices, patient access still remains a problem in Colombia. Medtronic works with the Colombian government to ensure patient access. “The organization is internally developing a program called Patient Access Acceleration (PAA) which will accelerate access for patients in Colombia for various procedures. Colombia offers very high potential for such technology because Medtronic is still penetrating most of its technologies in the country.”

Rafael Arango, director general of Colombian pharma and medical device success story Grupo Amarey, uses an entire department dedicated to researching key industry trends to determine which medical devices are best to import into Colombia. He also sends employees to congresses around the world to learn about the best investment opportunities. Arango pointed out that “in terms of devices, minimally invasive surgery is the biggest trend in the industry. Invasive surgery is now smaller, less traumatic, and recovery is much faster.” He is most excited about the potential of the da Vinci robot in Colombia, produced by US manufacturer Intuitive Surgical. Arango described this device as “the ‘Microsoft’ of surgical equipment. Other companies are introducing technologies compatible with Intuitive. If Amarey can manage that platform in Colombia, the Group will be riding the wave of new laparoscopy and in general the newest minimal invasive approaches in the region.”

Katherine Eissner, who became general manager Andean region of pharmaceutical and medical device company Hospira in January 2012, has a similarly positive outlook on her company’s ability to supply the Colombian market. “Hospira is the strongest injectable provider in the United States and has a heritage of antibiotics, oncology and other segments,” she explains. “The Colombian population will have the opportunity to obtain best in class injectables in terms of price, quality and accessibility. Innovation does not necessarily imply high cost; it means cost benefit, i.e. what I am willing to pay and why. Why is the system willing to pay, what are the benefits for the system and patients? I think that the whole sector understands that the patient ultimately makes decisions and is starting to understand better his/her rights and making choices based on that.”

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