Frans van Houten is the CEO of the $31 billion Dutch giant Philips. During a visit to India recently, he said healthcare is growing rapidly in India for Philips. In fact, the company has become the number one healthcare technology provider in India. The company designs and makes its own catheterization labs at their Pune facility. The Allura cath Lab that they make was designed in India for India, and van Houten says that it happens to be a great export product too.
Currently, there are 1.6 million hospital beds in India and the aim of Philips is to bring better care to hospital beds in rural India through their e-ICU program. These are community hospitals that have access to trained doctors and specialists in cities remotely, through camera.
The latest healthcare technology that the company has introduced in India is called HIFU. These are highly focused ultrasound that treats cancer. The ultrasound is used as a smart beam that directly heats up the cancer tumor, and by which it disappears. According to the CEO of Philips, HIFU is currently seeing a great deal of demand in India.
Philips invests approximately more than $135 million year in the R&D department in India. Moreover, one fifth of the company’s Indian employees work in that department.
In another twist on globalization, the responsibility for advanced workstations at Philips Healthcare, including their hardware and specialized applications have been taken over by Philips Healthcare of Haifa, Israel. These applications are developed at several Philips healthcare centers around the world, including in the US, the Netherlands, and India, and are overseen by Yair Briman, Vice president and General Manager of Philips’ healthcare, from Haifa, Israel. Philips Healthcare Israel currently has 600 employees in Haifa the location is the company’s worldwide center for 3D scanners.
What this means
Medical device companies from the West see India not only as a market but also as a resource. Also, the path to global R&D success is not always direct from the USA or Europe to India or China, as in this example with the Haifa location taking the lead. Cross cultural expertise is crucial in being successful in such an environment. Look me up on www.amritt.com if your company needs help to be more successful in global R&D from India or China.
