ABSTRACT
To those of us who work within it, the industry that makes the products used by doctors, nurses, technicians and other healthcare professionals is very fragmented. Not only do we separate pharmaceutical companies from medical technology companies, we see great divisions within each of these sectors. Research-based pharma, generic pharma and biotech are different beasts, although all make what the layman would call drugs. Within any of these sub-divisions, we see further differences. Those who understand the sector differentiate between big pharma and speciality pharma, for example; or, using products as differentiators, between small molecules, biologics and vaccines, to name just a few categories. Similar divisions are generally understood in non-pharma medical technology, which is even more fragmented. In this sector, there are divisions between equipment, such as fMRI scanners or patient monitors, and between disposables, such as dressings and surgical drapes or gloves. And there are further sub-divisions according to technology, such as clinical chemistry, immunoassay or haematology in pathology blood analysers. To the cognoscenti, there isn’t really a single industry in the sense of many fi rms making the same thing, as might be said of the automobile industry. Instead, there are many industries all supplying the products needed to maintain or restore health. But when we consider the impact this sector has had on our world, it is not too simplistic to consider this kaleidoscope of products, applications and technologies as a single industry, as the layman, journalists and others who look at the sector from outside often do.
