The 3D Printing market for Healthcare will reach $4043m in 2018, predicts new study

Monday 10 March 2014, Amsterdam

A new report forecasts the world market for 3D printing in the healthcare industry will be worth $4043m in 2018. That medical market generated $1,264m in 2013, according to 3D Printing for Healthcare: R&D, Industry and Market 2014-2024, published in January 2014.

The new report forecasts the overall market for 3D printing (additive manufacturing) in the healthcare industry will expand rapidly from 2014. That multidimensional printing offers advantages over traditional manufacturing methods as it facilitates the production of highly specific complex geometries and surfaces. It is suited to the production of high value, low volume products. As a result, those printers give methods of synthesis suited to manufacturing products for the healthcare industry, where the demand for high quality, patient specific products is increasing, particularly in orthopaedics.

Jennifer Taylor, a pharmaceutical industry analyst, said: “As 3D printing technology has developed and become more widespread, it has been used for an increasing number of applications in the healthcare industry. It is now an established manufacturing method in the formation of prototypes, medical models and dental products. More recently, the technology has been employed in the production of patient-specific orthopaedic and cranio-maxillofacial implants, a number of which have already received regulatory approval in the US and EU. More are under review. These implants apparently not only perform better, but their use results in cost savings derived from reduced surgery times. Companies in the field are beginning to enter into collaboration agreements with the industry-leading orthopaedic device manufacturers, which will drive market penetration of these 3D printed implants. It is expansion in this application that will be the main driver of growth during our forecast period 2014-2024.

“Technological advances in this dynamic industry are ever ongoing and applications of additive manufacturing in healthcare are expanding. An area of particular activity is that of bioprinting; there are a number of research groups and start-up companies working in this field. Bioprinted tissue will become commercially available for both drug development and therapeutic purposes during our forecast period, and will become an important subsector of the 3D printed products industry.”

The new report shows revenue forecasts to 2024 at world market and submarket level. It forecasts the world-level submarkets of 3D printing technology and that of printed products for medicine. The data gives a breakdown of the 3D printed products market into the following subsectors:

• Dental products
• Medical implants
• Bioprinted tissues
• Other medical uses.

Individual revenue forecasts for these subsectors are also presented and discussed. The study also analyses the national markets of the US, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Spain (EU5), Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC nations) and gives revenue forecasts for those markets to 2024. It also examines leading companies and other organisations in the field, and explores research and development (R&D). That report also gives interviews with authorities working in the field, including companies.

3D Printing for Healthcare: R&D, Industry and Market 2014-2024 adds, then, to the range of analytical reports on industries and markets in healthcare.