Strategies Evolving As Retractable Safety Syringe Suppliers Strive For Traction

Main Category: Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Also Included In: Caregivers / Homecare
Article Date: 25 May 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Following the lead of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act in the U.S., government regulations regarding syringe needle handling and disposal continue to proliferate worldwide, fostering increased demand in the use of safety syringes. Retractable syringes represent the most elegant approach to addressing the caregiver sharps risk issue by lowering the risk of user error and de-emphasizing the need for a separate sharps disposal step.

New retractable designs address caregiver preferences while reducing part counts and manufacturing steps. These refinements are helping to close the price gap with naked disposable syringes and non-retractable safety devices, and this development will help retractable syringe manufacturers and their distribution partners make a stronger sales case with the healthcare buying groups that account for the vast majority of syringe purchases.

Historical retractable syringe unit growth continues to be modest, hovering in the single digits. While price points remain the single most important factor limiting market penetration, several unrelated issues are slowing the market acceptance of retractable syringes. Many participants in this sector are undercapitalized and unprepared for the lengthy development, approval and sales cycle steps required to establish a foothold against entrenched devices, user habits, buying cycles and competitors. Patent and IP challenges are another risk area that has impacted and in some cases derailed the product plans of aspiring market entrants, while draining the financial resources of others.

Several sector companies are evolving their business strategies to focus on niche opportunities for which retractable safety syringes present strong business and use cases. These developments, long overdue, signify a willingness on the part of syringe developers to accept the role of retractable syringes as a specialty device.

Source
Greystone Associates