The medtech industry posted an uneven year in 2023. Among the reasons for celebration were expectation-beating revenue growth, a record number of novel-product approvals, and a spate of divestitures that helped companies refocus on their core capabilities.
On the flip side, the growing popularity of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) drugs for weight loss led investors to move away from many obesity-related-device stocks. Profitability did not meet investor expectations in an environment where margins increasingly became a key point of focus for valuations. And companies continued to struggle to perform consistently across geographies, especially outside the United States.
Indeed, 2023 marked the fourth consecutive challenging year for medtech, following a boom from 2012 to 2019.1 Despite many advances, a value creation slowdown may force companies to make bold moves to reset their trajectories in response to investor skepticism and other macroeconomic headwinds.
Since the September 2023 publication of our comprehensive report Medtech Pulse: Thriving in the next decade, we have spoken to more than 200 medtech executives. In this article, we draw from the insights and questions that emerged from those conversations and offer seven predictions about the evolving industry landscape in the coming year.