Neurotech Reports Releases New Market Projections Through 2008

Neurotech Reports, the publisher of Neurotech Business Report, released a new market research report that projects that sales of neurotechnology products will be $2.4 billion in 2004, growing to $7.2 billion in 2008. The report, entitled “The Market for Neurotechnology, 2004-2008,” was released earlier this month and updates data published in September 2001.

According to the report, sales of neural prostheses will reach $616 million in 2004, and grow to $2.2 billion by 2008. Cochlear implants continue to be the largest segment of the neural prostheses category. Although the new report revised downward annual sales of cochlear implants in 2004 compared to the previous edition to account for economic factors and the meningitis scare of 2002, the authors still project a growth rate upwards of 30 percent for the category in the years leading up to 2008. Factors contributing to this outlook include an expected trend toward implantation in severely hearing impaired, as well as profoundly deaf individuals, the availability of new generations of devices, including totally implantable devices, the growing body of evidence that indicates the advantages of bilateral implantation, and the presence of new competitors to market leader Cochlear Ltd.

The new report also projects that sales of a small number of visual prostheses will commence by late 2004 or early 2005, and the product category will reach $22million by 2006. Although the first generation of retinal implants will not be nearly as effective in restoring visual function as current cochlear implants are in restoring auditory function, the restoration of even a minimal amount of visual input to blind individuals will, the authors believe, produce considerable demand and eagerness on the part of blind individuals to be part of the first wave of users.

The report projects that sales of neuromodulation devices will represent $1.1 billion in 2004, growing to $3.6 billion by 2008, a 36 percent compound annual growth rate. Within the neuromodulation category, spinal cord stimulation systems and deep-brain stimulation systems will represent the greatest sales volume, each growing to over $1 billion by 2008. Vagus nerve stimulation systems will represent $793 million in sales by 2008, in large part because of new applications in treating psychiatric disorders.

For the first time, the report projects sales for BION microstimulation systems. The authors project that worldwide sales of BIONs, currently marketed by Advanced Bionics Corp., will reach $47 million by 2006.

“The Market for Neurotechnology, 2004-2008,” is available for $1,495 from Neurotech Reports. For more information, visit www.neurotechreports.com.