The growth drivers for healthcare are no longer the traditional, mature markets in the U.S., the EU, or Japan, but rather the less understood emerging markets, which include Latin America. The developed healthcare markets are highly competitive and well served; future market growth will be either organic or will rely on R&D and technological breakthroughs.

In contrast, the current share of revenue from emerging markets for the med tech and pharmaceutical industries are only in the range of 25% to 30%. Notwithstanding the higher growth opportunity in these geographies, many companies struggle with their international expansion initiatives resulting in suboptimal go-to-market models.

A critical challenge that manufacturers of medical devices and pharmaceuticals in developed countries face when expanding into emerging markets is finding the right approach to go to market from the choices available to them: out-licensing products and technology, partnering with a local distributor, setting up their own legal entities and teams, or acquiring a local player.

Whatever path they choose, manufacturers need to ensure that they have access to solid knowledge of the regulatory processes and major customers in the local market; strong marketing and clinical selling capabilities; and financial strength, all while ensuring compliance with the relevant home country as well as with local regulations. Furthermore, most distributors and local players lack the reach to cover multiple countries, thus compounding the complexity for manufacturers.