The Asia-Pacific healthcare market is on track to hit $5 trillion by 2030, driving 40 per cent of global sector growth, according to a report on Monday.
The report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) noted that the unprecedented expansion is fuelled by rapid demographic shifts, investment influxes, and ground-breaking technology applications.
The expansion also includes advancements in new therapies and modalities by Indian contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMOs).
“Innovation is emerging as a key driver of growth in Asia’s healthcare landscape. Indian CDMOs are scaling globally, leveraging their cost efficiencies but also starting to make early strides into complex and cutting-edge modalities such as ADCs and oligonucleotides, enhancing their global competitiveness,” said Smruthi Suryaprakash, Partner, BCG.
“At the same time, decades of investment in biotech across the region are starting to pay off, with advancements in India and Singapore driving localised breakthroughs in new therapies and modalities. These complementary trends, as highlighted in our report, showcase Asia’s potential to lead both global and regional healthcare innovation,” Suryaprakash added.
Further, the report comprehensively explores the Asian healthcare market from multiple perspectives and identifies key factors driving transformation.
It noted that Asia accounts for only 22 percent of global healthcare spending, despite being home to 60 percent of the global population.
With chronic conditions such as diabetes and cancer affecting Asia disproportionately, the report suggested finding its own healthcare models to manage the disease burden. Of the top five prevalent cancers in Asia, liver and stomach cancer have a lower prevalence in the West, which means that Asia will need to invent its own solutions.
Moreover, the market is ripe for disruption because of the rapid ageing of populations, along with significant gaps in infrastructure and capabilities, according to the report. It also noted significant opportunities across all sub-sectors — innovative hospital and specialty care, contract manufacturing, and research, as well as innovation-driven biotech, and models of digital health involved omni-channel patient journeys.
“We are at a unique point in time where Asian healthcare is at the confluence of many tailwinds — rapidly shifting demographics, trade-flows and FDIs favouring Asia as a destination, and demand factors like growing chronic disease burden and a new more active and demanding patient — that creates opportunities to reimagine how healthcare will be delivered in Asia,” said Priyanka Aggarwal, Managing Director, Healthcare Practice, BCG.
The report serves as a guide for investors and healthcare companies to reflect on the recent changes in the sector and implores into addressing key imperatives and immediate priorities. It also attempts to guide the reader to re-imagine healthcare by innovating to challenge existing inefficiencies.
–IANS
