Top Device Stories of 2009: A Year of Economic Revival and Regulatory Risk

2009 was the most difficult year the device industry faced in a long time, particularly given the boom years that preceded it. Public and private investors grew nervous and sat on the sidelines, as did most corporate acquirers. As a result, most start-ups found it difficult to raise money and VCs were frustrated by the poor returns being generated, especially compared with the previously frothy climate. The silver lining may be that there are signs that the economic environment may be improving and that corporate acquirers will continue to pay a premium for the right deal. Overhanging all of this, however, is the specter of health care reform and its impact on the device industry, whether through a device tax, comparative effectiveness or some unanticipated other result, meaning the industry is far from out of the woods.

by EBI's Medical Device Team

While pundits and commentators debated, more broadly, whether the decade of the 2000s was the worst in history, there's little...

More from Archive

More from In Vivo

Wide Of The Mark: ‘The Worst EU Medtech Predictions Have Not Come True’

 
• By 

Jana Grieb, European regulatory and market access legal expert at McDermott Will & Emery, explains why the healthtech and pharma industries are warming to the new EU health commissioner as he faces calls to make the MDR more “user friendly.”

This Belgian Biotech’s Drug Cocktail Could Help Reverse Muscle Aging

 
• By 

While big pharma pours billions into creating new anti-aging molecules, a Belgian startup has taken a different path: combining existing safe drugs with AI precision. The early results suggest it might be onto something revolutionary.

Rising Leaders 2025: Doxie Jordan, From UNC Graduate To Global Market Strategist

 
• By 

Bristol Myers Squibb executive Doxie Jordan discusses his path to global commercial leadership and the principles guiding pharmaceutical market strategy