Regulation and reform top list of concerns at healthcare companies
According to UPS supply chain survey
Changes in healthcare legislation and reform top the list of business concerns of healthcare companies in the US and Asia – cited by 60% and 53% of companies respectively – while increasing regulation ranks highest in concern among European decision makers (49%).
The fourth annual UPS Pain in the (Supply) Chain survey, conducted by TNS, explored the main business and supply chain concerns of senior executives at around 250 pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies in the US, Europe and Asia.
The survey also revealed that healthcare companies are heavily focused on global expansion, with most (70%) having expanded into new markets in the past 18 months and even more planning to do so (81%) in the next three to five years.
Seventy-five per cent of respondents in Asia cited tapping new global markets as a strategy to increase competitiveness, compared with 58% in the US.
The top five markets for global expansion are the US, China, India, Japan and Brazil.
Technology investment ranked as the main way to increase competitiveness, with the survey revealing that 72% of healthcare companies had invested in new technologies in the past 18 months.
Ninety-three per cent of respondents in the US said they plan to invest in new technologies in the next 3–5 years, compared with 85% in Europe and 82% in Asia.
Intellectual property protection emerged as a key concern, especially in pharma and biotech companies, probably driven by global expansion and upcoming patent expirations.
IP protection was ranked as the second largest barrier to global expansion by 31% of respondents. Concerns ranked highest in Asia, where 50% voiced their concerns, compared with 40% in the US and 34% in Europe.
Managing costs emerged as the second largest supply chain issue, cited by 64% of decision makers. It was a much bigger concern in the US (72%) and Asia (70%) than Europe (49%).
