Australia, South Korea and Europe Experience Market Growth While Japan Lags Behind.
By Dr. Kamran Zamanian, CEO, iData Research Inc.
Market trends for dialysis catheters and procedures vary globally. While manufactures for the European markets are currently witnessing growth, only some regions of Asia-Pacific are producing similar profitability.
The Australian and South Korean markets are experiencing increasing unit sales, while manufactures for the Japan market watch catheter sales decline. Encompassing acute, chronic and peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheters, the total market is influenced by patient needs, government intervention, and changes in population.
Australia
The Australian catheter market is led by Covidien who controls just over half of the total market share. Together the acute, chronic and PD catheter market is valued at $4.3 million and rising. Hemodialysis which accounts for most of the dialysis procedures performed in Australia, includes acute dialysis catheters which comprise over half of the total unit sales.
Growth in unit sales is expected to remain relatively constant because acute dialysis catheters are not frequently used for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). These catheters provide a temporary solution for patients with kidney problems, and while the dialysis patient pool is expected to increase, the acute, chronic and PD markets are not expected to grow at this same rate.
Japan
Conversely, the total dialysis catheter market in Japan, led by Terumo, is on the decline. The decrease is due to moderate single-digit decreases in the average selling price that were only slightly counteracted by low-single-digit growth in unit sales.
Similar to Australia, hemodialysis is most commonly performed and the Japanese patient base with kidney problems is not expected to increase to any great degree. In addition, prices are expected to decline due to the government’s initiative to reduce the costs of hemodialysis procedures.
