Cutting-Edge Technologies Change Lives

Q: What opportunities have you identified in Mexico in 2018 for your diagnostics portfolio?

A: We are facing different challenges in 2018. Some government contracts will expire or have already expired and have not yet been assigned, which is an opportunity to boost our business. However, the big government hospitals are looking to reduce their budgets. This brings a challenge to companies like ours to provide cost-effective, efficient solutions to this important sector of the market.

In the case of private laboratories, some of them have merged and are consolidating their operations, including the integration of production plants to generate economies of scale and growth in efficiency and capacity. International players from South America and Europe are also looking at Mexico as an investment opportunity. We are also seeing a great opportunity in the health-related services companies oriented to a large part of the population with low resources or with no healthcare coverage.

Q: How does the commercial strategy and technology offer vary from segment to segment?

A: We offer the same technology to laboratories at pharmacies, government institutions or to private hospitals. We do not differentiate among our patients and can provide both instruments to small-capacity laboratories and high-capacity open automation systems that integrate different platforms. We are actively participating in new business schemes and for this we have implemented the cost per test reported in different accounts of the health system. Our commitment to the health system is to achieve high productivity and efficiency and to reduce waste. The application of these schemes is complemented by automation and IT tools that help reduce manual errors and increase productivity and savings.

Q: Of Beckman Coulter’s recent innovations, which would provide the greater benefit for the Mexican health system?

A: In 2017, we launched two product platforms: the DxH500, a medium-sized machine that does five-part hematology, and the DxC700AU, a platform directed to the middle segment. We are producing these types of innovation because we are aware that the market in countries like Mexico has specific needs. We also launched the P2PSA assay for prostate cancer diagnosis because we believe P2PSA can be an important diagnostic tool in the coming years as it helps reduce risks and discomfort of biopsy for the patient. Applying this test instead of taking a biopsy could help reduce spending by 60 to 70 percent.

Q: Beckman Coulter offers a test that could help identify heart attacks in patients when they arrive to an ER. When will this technology be available in Mexico?

A: Our high sensibility troponin test is in the registration phase in Mexico. It will bring a wide margin of opportunities because this test can help professionals recognize in a shorter time if the patient that comes into the ER with heart attack symptoms has already suffered one or not. This could help shorten admission times for patients and avoid saturation at ERs, as well as to avoid discharging patients to their homes who indeed have suffered a heart attack.

Q: In terms of IT, what is your product offer?

A: We have IT solutions in three areas: logistics and storage, remote instrument diagnosis and laboratory information systems. For consumables logistics and inventory control, we are providing a comprehensive offer through all our platforms with innovative and proprietary IT solutions. We provide remote instrument diagnosis and monitoring using our ProService system, through which we can identify failures, prevent unexpected shutdowns and alert the client proactively. Finally, in the case of laboratory information systems, we have a robust platform that manages information to execute automated results release and reliable patient information archiving and analysis. We are also working in the development of Big Data solutions to make better use of the amount of information our clients manage.