Finding The Middle Ground Between Research And Development

David J. Giles, Battelle

Has medical device industry lost its research mojo?

The industry spends billions on research and product development every year, and these investments are only increasing. The leading medical device companies reinvest 6%-12% of revenues into R&D, with the top ten companies spending $10.5 billion on R&D in 2013¹. However, the vast majority of medical device research goes towards incremental improvements in product design or function rather than into truly revolutionary new products.

Revolutionary medical devices — those that upend market expectations or launch a whole new device category — are often built on new scientific discoveries or technological advances made in entirely different fields. To increase innovation in medical devices, we need to do a better job of translating academic research into commercial solutions. As technologies in one area advance, they will combine with other technologies to enable entirely new capabilities. The medical device industry will need to take a broader view of R&D to remain innovative.