St. Jude Medical (STJ) has had a strong presence in Asia dating back to the medical device company’s creation of the first mechanical heart valve, STJ’s Senior Vice President in Asia and President of STJ Japan Bill Phillips said. In the past 15 years, the company has made a push to become more directly involved there, with direct presence in eight countries, he said. Phillips has had experience working in the medical device industry in Asia just as long, for Boston Scientific (BSX) before St. Jude.
“If we go back to the history, I believe it’s the real foresight of the founders and the early leaders of St. Jude Medical. They really recognized significant benefits to patients irregardless of where they’re located,” he said.
As an expert on the subject, Phillips talked about the changes the medical device industry has seen in Asia during his two decades of work there. Here are the big three:
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1. Value and access shifts: “Tremendous change in the view and value of healthcare where governments now are beginning to put in place or have put in place over the past 20 years robust insurance systems for those who didn’t have access before.”
2. World-stage level research contributions in advanced disease: Many “recognized preeminent leaders” are focusing their great minds on very advanced diseases in a “very proactive manner,” such as Dr. Seung-Jung Park’s research in fractional flow reserve, or FFR.
3. Patient focus driving acceleration of technology: Ten years ago, it was common for a country such as Japan to get second and third generation medical technology, with Europe and the U.S. getting dibs on the first generation, Phillips said. But “patients’ perspective, demand for access and demand to get access to high quality technologies” pressured the “government to accelerate access to technologies.” Now, he said, Japan is only a few months or a year behind a CE indication, he said. “You would have never thought of that even 10 years ago.”
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