Home Infusion: Global Growth

The top 4 trends uplifting home infusion therapy industry share through 2027.

• By Shreya Bhute
• Apr 01, 2022

With corporate exposure in software and marketing, Shreya Bhute was always keen and intrigued by content development. Having pursued her graduation in I.T. engineering along, she is employed as a content writer and jots down diverse articles across distinct areas of interest.

With trends such as CMS’s new infusion benefit that creating new opportunities for DME pharmacies, it’s easy to think only about market trends here in the states. However, globally, there are broad trends further driving the uptake of home infusion, which only goes to underscore the importance of this service offering to DME pharmacies.

The home infusion therapy market will be tremendously driven by the rising burden of chronic diseases and the prevalence of hospital-acquired infections worldwide. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) along with a group of researchers, stated that the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a significant rise in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in U.S. hospitals in 2020.

Moreover, as a result of technological enhancements, customized infusion pumps, given their integration with innovative software, are widely employed to provide enhanced safety features to protect patients while providing drugs assistance.

On this note, the global home infusion therapy market size will be worth more than $ 48.5 billion by 2027, cites a report by Global Market Insight Inc. (Find the report at www.gminsights.com.)

The growing obligation to limit intravenous medication administration errors has led to the influx of infusion smart pumps with dose error reduction systems and drug libraries. For instance, RyMed Technologies introduced needleless connectors deployed with neutral advantage technology to enhance clinician safety by countering the movement of bacteria into the fluid path. The higher adoption of smart technologies is also assisting users in selecting the required therapeutics from an approved list as well as input the required patient information.

Here are some key factors that are anticipated to influence the home infusion therapy market:

MALNUTRITION

The growing instances of malnutrition along with a broad range of applicability have resulted in the increasing preference for intravenous sets. There is also a significant rise in the number of government initiatives. The UNICEF has suggested that poor nutrition during the first 1,000 days of a newborn’s life results in stunted growth and weakened cognitive ability. Intravenous sets are hence increasingly used to provide medication or nutrients to patients in the treatment of several chronic disease conditions that require specific medication therapies.

Numerous home infusion therapy providers are also designing and developing innovative IV therapy product portfolios for vascular access sites, to improve infusion delivery, whilst lowering the infection risks. Driven by this, the overall industry share from intravenous sets may record $6,400 million by 2027.

CHEMOTHERAPY

Demand for home infusion therapy services in chemotherapy applications will cross $1,105 million through 2027. This is mainly ascribing to the growing inclination of doctors towards infusion therapy to treat cancer patients as it permits specifically designed drugs to permeate the body inhibiting cellular mitosis.

Recent research shows that relieved distress from symptoms, reduced risks of complications, and higher affordability over hospital-based care, are some benefits of treating cancer at home via infusion therapies. In addition, home-based intravenous chemotherapy assists patients in effectively managing their symptoms while adhering to the chemotherapy schedules.

COMPETITIVE INITIATIVES

Renowned home infusion therapy companies are focusing on novel product developments as well as partnerships with public organizations and private players along with distribution agreements to bring new offerings in a bid to expand their customer base. For instance, ICU Medical Inc., in February 2017, acquired the Hospira Infusion Systems business, comprising infusion devices, from Pfizer Inc. The acquisition helped the company in driving its product sales and to bolster its industrial position across the North American markets.

THE JAPANESE MARKET

Japan’s home infusion therapy market size is likely to touch $3,138 million by 2027 owing to the presence of a large geriatric population pool and upgraded home healthcare facilities across the region. According to government statistics, nearly 36.17 million people in the country were aged 65 years and above in 2019.

This expanding older population has led to the rising incidence of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disorders, pushing several vendors to launch innovative infusion devices for extending their quality of life. The rise in the number of government initiatives has also steered the demand for home infusion therapies for maintaining good health of patients.

This article originally appeared in the DME Pharmacy April 2022 issue of HME Business.