Probing Malaysia's Medical Devices Industry

The mention of Malaysia usually conjures an image of beautiful beaches, peaceful resort retreats, and a tourist's vacation haven. As focal as its tourism, Malaysia also has a thriving medical devices manufacturing industry, being one of the largest manufacturers and exporters in the world. About 80% of the global demand for medical catheters and 60% for surgical gloves are supplied by the country.

Medical devices from Malaysia range from the very simple ones like vaccine needles, gloves, tongue depressors, and knives to the more complex ones like pacemakers, defibrillators, and OR monitors. However, Malaysia mainly produces medical devices made from latex, as it comes from the country's major resource - rubber. Surgical gloves and catheters, both made from latex, accounted for 59.1% of the country's export in 2009.

These figures have experienced a slow decrease through the years due to the steady increase of production and export of diagnostic imaging products. Malaysia still does import medical devices from other countries, though, specifically lab sterilizers, orthopedic devices, veterinary products, and hearing aids. Demand for these products is seen to rise due to factors such as population growth, longer life expectancy, higher standards of living, and increasing awareness of consumers.

The country's public and private health sectors have been continuously growing since the 1990s. Public healthcare is availed by the majority of the population, accounting for 60% to 70% of the total healthcare spending. The Government provides a greater percentage of its social sector budget to healthcare. Over the last couple of years, efforts were increased to overhaul the system and attract more foreign investments.

Malaysia's medical devices industry takes the biggest percentage in the healthcare market and is expected to expand in the future. The country's medical devices market is presently worth USD 900 million.

The industry is export oriented, with the United States being the largest market for the medical devices, about 47% of the total market. Local and global manufacturers Malaysia is among the top three
producers of natural rubber in the world. The quality of this natural resource is known for its superior attributes and broadly used as a criterion in the global market. The country's medical devices industry capitalizes on this advantage by manufacturing latex-based products. The latex subsector is the largest
division of the rubber industry, accounting about 80% of the total rubber exports from the country.

Locally, there are about 130 manufacturers of latex products for use as gloves, catheters, and threads. There are also numerous companies involved in the production of other high-value products such as surgical instruments, ophthalmic lenses, medical electrodes, and radiographic equipment. Currently, there are about 180 manufacturers of these devices in Malaysia.

Oralix (www.oralix.com.my) is a 100% Malay-owned company established in December 2002. Its Medical Devices division supplies medical equipment, implantables, and disposables such as syringes and surgical gloves to hospitals in the region and custom manufactures products based on specific customer requirements. Another local, pioneer company established in 1997, Foresight Industries
(www.foresight.com.my), supplies surgical and medical disposable products to hospitals and clinics all over Malaysia. Foresight Industries is the preferred, thus multi-awarded, supplier appointed by the Malaysian Ministry of Health since 2005.

MB Plus (www.mbplus.com.my), established in 2005, is one of the leading suppliers and exporters of latex examination gloves, nitrile examination gloves, and latex surgical gloves. MB Plus exports to over 100 countries (mostly to the United States, Europe, SouthGifts for Runners