Beyond Brazil, Latin American IVD Sector Grows

A new healthcare market analysis finds that in addition to Brazil, there are smaller countries in Latin America that are also top targets for in vitro diagnostics (IVD) firms as their IVD sectors are projected to grow at faster rates.

Kalorama Information (New York, NY, USA) said that Brazil figures heavily into IVD strategies for the Latin American continent with a population of over 200 million people and industry to support globally distributed supply operations. However, Brazil’s regional economic clout may not ensure its status as a leading target IVD expansion market. According to Kalorama’s latest projections for Latin American IVD, the less competitive markets of Chile, Colombia, and Peru are expected to grow by faster rates through 2019 while outpacing growth for Latin American IVD as a whole. While Brazil can claim preeminence in terms of scale, these and other factors have made other South American markets increasingly relevant to global IVD expansion.

The findings were made in Kalorama’s new report: The Market for In Vitro Diagnostic Tests in Latin America (Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Other Nations).

“In six years, Colombia, Peru, and Chile combined will represent an IVD market that is 60% of the size of Brazil’s despite the combined national populations being less than half the Brazilian population,” said Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information. Macroeconomic forces have quickly altered the market landscape in Latin America. Slackened economic growth has negated previously explosive prospects for Brazil’s market, while reform and economic investment have increased health spending in peripheral countries.

Kalorama cites 3 countries as having above-average opportunity.

Columbia, the second most populous South American country, is emblematic of the emerging opportunities for global IVD. Colombia is sufficiently urbanized, at roughly 75% of the total population, to support effective distribution and access. With economic diversification and newfound wealth, Colombia has begun to improve its near-universal healthcare system established with the 1991 constitution. Consumption expenditure growth has roughly matched recent GDP growth at 4%–7% annually.

Peru is in a period of marked economic improvement, with the IMF designating it a leading Latin American economy and destination for investment. Recent sustained economic growth has been possible through the inauguration of political stability in the beginning of the century. Despite an invigorated economy, Peru still suffers from widespread poverty among anywhere from 30% to 50% of the national population of 30 million. While healthcare coverage has improved, the Peruvian system depends on private expenditures—largely out-of-pocket— for approximately 2/3 of total healthcare spending. Peru has approximately 1,300 clinical labs. While featuring a less developed healthcare system, Peru has seen significant growth in demand over the past decade and is projected to lead Latin American in IVD growth through 2019.

In Chile, the current administration has sought to address its relatively high income inequality among developed (OECD) countries by implementing welfare programs and improving its Universal Access with Explicit Guarantees (AUGE or GES) program. Nearly universal healthcare coverage is provided to Chileans through both a public insurer (FONASA) covering 75% of the population and group of regulated, private insurers. FONASA guarantees coverage for specific health issues; additional, heavily subsidized care was recently made available to the elderly. Despite moves made to improve the effectiveness of public care following privatization under Pinochet, the level of care remains significantly higher in the Chilean private healthcare sector.

Related Links:
Kalorama Information
The Market for In Vitro Diagnostic Tests in Latin America, report
IVD in Mexico