July 5, 2006—The aging Baby Boom generation could represent a $480 billion market opportunity for new medical products and services, according to an article in the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Ready to make the most of their post-retirement years and armed with funding to spare, Boomers will sink most of their money into cosmetic procedures and devices that enable non-invasive procedures, analysts believe.
As a result, venture capitalists are investing in medical device companies—which face fewer FDA regulations than pharmaceutical companies and can put new products on the market just three years from their inception—to the tune of $548.4 million in the first quarter of this year, up almost $100 million from the same period last year.
The Business Journal article cites as a case study Cardica Inc (Redwood, Calif), which designs and manufactures the automated anastomotic systems used in coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The company’s February IPO raised $35 million at ten dollars a share.
“Anything that makes a medical professional’s job easier or makes the consumer’s life better is going to be a hit with investors,” Tom Salemi, senior editor of Venture Capitalist Analyst-Health Care, notes in the article. “When a consumer has a choice between taking a drug for a lifelong medical condition and scheduling a one-time non-invasive procedure, they will choose the procedure.”
-Cat Vasko
