APAC gears up to challenge China's pharma dominance

The global healthcare market is likely to grow 5.1% in 2019 and exceed $1.96t in manufacturer revenues.

Countries in the Asia Pacific region are preparing to amp up their drug development initiatives as China is forecasted to capture more than 20% of the total Asia-Pacific healthcare revenue in 2019 owing to aggressive policy making to support medical device and pharma markets, a report by Frost & Sullivan revealed.

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South Korea, for instance, is expected to aggressively invest in developing a more robust clinical trial environment for medical devices and pharmaceuticals in 2019 in a bid to become a global clinical trial hub.

Meanwhile, Japan will have its first ever drug trial using induced Pluripotent Stem cells which are cells that have the capacity to self-renew and develop into the three primary germ cell layers of an early-stage embryo in the country’s efforts to further differentiate itself in the regenerative medicine market, the report highlighted.

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“Japan will continue to take regenerative medicine development to new heights. This country is facing a formidable shortage of care workers as the aging population raises healthcare costs. During 2019, Japan's policy reforms will aim to reduce hospital length of stay with improvements in the quality of long-term care, especially through digitalization,” Frost & Sullivan added in its report.

The report estimated that the global healthcare market is likely to grow 5.1% in 2019 and exceed $1.96t in manufacturer revenues. However, growth opportunities in key regional markets will vary considerably.

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Frost & Sullivan forecasted that by the end of 2019, up to 15% of the global healthcare spending will be directed towards value-based care concepts which will cause a surge in the number of risk-sharing contracts between providers and drug/device original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and drive business value for providers.

“Whilst developed countries will adopt the more sophisticated outcome-based models, emerging markets will employ the best practices most suited to their local needs. Digital health technologies enabling out-of-hospital care and monitoring are forecasted to grow 30% to cross the $25 billion mark. As the lines between retail, IT and healthcare industries continue to blur, digital marketplace providers such as Amazon and Ali Health will make further headway in the home health space,” the report said.