By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    improving patient experience
    6 Ways to Improve Patient Satisfaction Within Hospitals
    December 1, 2021
    degree for healthcare job
    What Are The Health Benefits Of Having A Degree?
    March 9, 2022
    custom software development is changing healthcare
    Digital Customer Journey Mapping and its Importance for Healthcare
    July 21, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Can Thinking Younger Make You Live Longer?
    April 20, 2011
    Image
    Obesity’s Outlook Unchanged
    June 13, 2011
    When It’s An Emergency Elderly Not Treated As Well in Hospitals
    July 16, 2011
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Follow the Need: The Global Fight Against Obesity
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Follow the Need: The Global Fight Against Obesity
Business

Follow the Need: The Global Fight Against Obesity

PatrickDriscoll
Last updated: July 27, 2012 8:55 am
PatrickDriscoll
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

A recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research report called, “Globesity – The Global Fight Against Obesity”, examines the subject of obesity as a global need driving business across a range of sectors. As opportunistic and “exploitive” this may be, one need recognize that, in free market economies, businesses are compelled to focus on unmet need.

A recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research report called, “Globesity – The Global Fight Against Obesity”, examines the subject of obesity as a global need driving business across a range of sectors. As opportunistic and “exploitive” this may be, one need recognize that, in free market economies, businesses are compelled to focus on unmet need.

“Global obesity is a mega-investment theme for the next 25 years and beyond. Obesity may be the most pressing health challenge facing the world today and efforts to tackle it will shape thinking by policy makers and in boardrooms around the world,” said Sarbjit Nahal, equity strategist at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research. (See link.)

The “need” associated with obesity can be viewed from a broad standpoint as any type of demand for products and services stemming from the growing incidence and prevalence of obesity, from products that enable that demand (fast food and other high caloric foods) to the clinical management of obesity and its sequellae (i.e., diabetes, heart disease, etc.).

(The Merrill Lynch report focuses on obesity as a business investment focus with medium and long term potential, considering the major categories of Pharmaceuticals and Health Care, Food, Commercial Weight Loss, Diet Management and Nutrition, and Sports Apparel and Equipment.)

More Read

dreamstime_11153121 - Steth Money
Are You Ready for Bundled Payments?
Value-Based Purchasing Must Bring Healthcare Providers & Vendors Together
Bragging Rights: How Personal Branding Benefits Doctors
Does Pay for Performance Measure Medical Quality?
Digital Wayfinding: How SEO Impacts Patient Outcomes

From a clinical perspective, obesity is a major opportunity for new treatments due to the direct and indirect costs it creates.  The indirect costs arise from the health-related complications of obesity, often referred to as “co-morbidities”:

Obesity Co-Morbidities

    • Metabolic syndrome
    • Immune system effects
    • Type 2 diabetes
    • Hypertension
    • Cardiovascular disease
    • Dyslipidemia
    • Depression
    • Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
    • Cancer

Source: MedMarket Diligence Report #S835.

It is the mandate of the medical product industry to develop, introduce and market products that may competitively address healthcare need to the benefit of company shareholders. As an economic driver, obesity can be clearly seen one of the most compelling for the fact that obesity prevalence is increasing dramatically and the evidence that obesity’s costs, both direct and indirect, are rising steadily at a time when healthcare costs are already under intense scrutiny.

The allure of the industry’s interest in obesity is bluntly reflected in the business of managing obesity (see Report #S835):

“The global market for treatment of obesity is predicted to reach $5,159.6 million by 2019, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for 2010-2019 of 17.4% The largest sector in revenue terms by 2019 is likely to be combination drugs, reaching $1,844.0 million in global revenues. Almost all device- and drug-based treatment categories will reach strong double-digit CAGRs by 2019.”

One might argue, at least from the cost standpoint, that by pursuing advanced medical technology solutions (complex new devices and drugs) the obesity management industry is simply exacerbating the problem.  Looked at narrowly, this argument is easy to defend.  However, a fundamental force underlying medical technology development is that new products that offer the defensible (i.e., marketable) potential to reduce the costly complications of healthcare conditions will be met by support in the payer side of healthcare.


MedMarket Diligence has published “Products, Technologies and Markets Worldwide for the Clinical Management of Obesity, 2011-2019″, Report #S835.

 

    

TAGGED:obesity
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share
By PatrickDriscoll
Follow:
I serve the interests of medical technology company decision-makers, venture-capitalists, and others with interests in medtech producing worldwide analyses of medical technology markets for my audience of mostly medical technology companies (but also rapidly growing audience of biotech, VC, and other healthcare decision-makers). I have a small staff and go to my industry insiders (or find new ones as needed) to produce detailed, reality-grounded analyses of current and potential markets and opportunities. I am principally interested in those core clinical applications served by medical devices, which are expanding to include biomaterials, drug-device hybrids and other non-device technologies either competing head-on with devices or being integrated with devices in product development. The effort and pain of making every analysis global in scope is rewarded by my audience's loyalty, since in the vast majority of cases they too have global scope in their businesses.Specialties: Business analysis through syndicated reports, and select custom engagements, on medical technology applications and markets in general/abdominal/thoracic surgery, interventional cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, patient monitoring/management, wound management, cell therapy, tissue engineering, gene therapy, nanotechnology, and others.

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Health
May 15, 2025
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction heart treatment
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction
Cardiology
May 13, 2025

You Might also Like

Helping Patients Pay Their Hospital Bills [VIDEO INTERVIEW]

October 6, 2013
Screen Shot 2014-04-01 at 2.49.04 PM
BusinessFinanceMedical DevicesMedical InnovationsTechnology

Fundings in Medtech 2009-2014: A Contrarian View

April 5, 2014

Jumping into Health Care Social Media

July 5, 2011

Physician Websites: Five Good Ways to Connect With Patients

November 19, 2011
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?