MEDICAL DEVICES
With the growing demand for quick and safe medical devices in the last year, these companies have invested more into limiting medication errors and simplifying the vaccination process.
Luis Campo PRESIDENT & MANAGING DIRECTOR SPAIN & PORTUGAL, GE HEALTHCARE
GE HEALTHCARE has been in Spain for over 50 years, and we mainly distribute technology, services, and solutions. We also have a radiopharmaceutical unit in a joint venture with the Galician Healthcare Service. In addition, we have agreements with several institutions for research, development and/or validation or products. Our mission is to improve the population’s health through offering cooperation and support to healthcare providers. This comes mostly in the field of precision health, which includes better diagnoses, therapies, and processes. We aim to be the partner of choice for our customers, empathizing with their challenges and providing solutions to match their needs. Our portfolio is among the broadest in the healthcare sector; we are present in practically all clinical areas and departments of any hospital. We provide intelligent devices, data analytics, applications, and services to ensure better outcomes. Within equipment, we provide imaging technology for precision diagnostics, patient support, and critical care. In terms of services, we provide solutions that maximize the utilization of the equipment, through advanced maintenance or business analytics. Then, we have the pharmaceutical area, in which we provide contrast media and radiotracers for enhanced imaging. Finally, we have a strong digital business with a broad spectrum of solutions that are present in most care areas or departments.
Lourdes López GENERAL MANAGER, BECTON DICKINSON (BD)
BROADLY SPEAKING, we have products and solutions in healthcare covering the entire continuum of patient care covering research of diseases and treatments, diagnoses, treatment, and monitoring of these treatments. For diagnosis, we have solutions for infectious diseases and in-vitro testing. In cancer, we have products for the diagnosis of lymphomas and cervical cancer. And for treatment administration, we have devices to administer drugs such as syringes, catheters, and infusion pumps. We have devices that are involved in the entire process to supply medication to patients. And finally, we have legacy Bard products, mainly for chirurgical treatments. We have syringes for biopsies, as well as several products for chirurgical interventions. One area in which we are stronger in is patient safety; BD has excellent solutions to prevent and control infections in hospitals and for medical errors prevention. As well, we have highly advanced solutions for sepsis and diabetes, among others. In Spain, we have three plants: San Agustin, Fraga, and Almaraz. In the last five years, we have invested EUR140 million in Fraga, and there are many large projects that we are trying to bring to Spain, especially now with the European recovery funds. We have some products in Spain that are only manufactured here for the entire world, so we are proud of that.
Ricardo de Andrés COUNTRY MANAGER, ICU MEDICAL
IN OUR BUSINESS, one-third of our medical devices are infusion pumps, which is an Abbott product that ICU Medical acquired. 70% of the device comes directly from ICU Medical. They are closed systems for the administration of hazardous drugs, not only for patients, but for health personnel, pregnant women, and so on. ICU Medical was one of the pioneers in both the manufacturing and selling of intravenous administration closed systems, which are gravity systems. What sets this company apart is its impetus to innovate and provide clinical solutions. We set aside 4.5% of our revenues on R&D on new products, and right now we are focused on infusion pumps. We want to focus on minimizing medication errors in intravenous therapy. In that regard, ICU Medical is much more advanced than the competition in terms of smart pumps. These devices come with a software called MedNet, which is connected to a drug library. Ultimately, it issues reports locating the errors in order to try to correct them. Another issue that we are extremely interested in, and in which we are pioneers, is cybersecurity, which is highly undervalued. Cybersecurity also applies to patients’ medical records and protecting the health of the most critical patients who are attached to a machine. Currently, we are the only ones that are certified.