Infection Prevention Products and Services Industry to Exceed $11 Billion in 2009

CLEVELAND U.S. demand for infection prevention products and services will increase 4.6 percent annually to $11.8 billion in 2009. Among infection prevention products, air- and liquid-resistant surgical drapes and gowns, waterless alcohol hand sanitizers, high-level surface and instrument disinfectants, heavy-duty laboratory and powder-free surgical gloves, heat-resistant sterilization wrap and filtration-enhanced face masks will post the largest demand gains.

Due to their dominant role in surgery and other major patient procedures, hospitals will remain the largest infection prevention market, making up more than 58 percent of total demand in 2009. Pharmaceutical companies will see the fastest increases in demand in the life science market as newly adopted FDA regulations extend quality management requirements to all phases of drug production.

These and other trends are presented in "Infection Prevention Products & Services," a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industrial market research firm.

Demand for infection-prevention equipment will advance slowly over the next several years. A slight decline in the number of hospitals and slowing growth in the number of other healthcare facilities will weaken sales prospects for new placements. Newer sterilizers based on gas plasma and peracetic acid technologies will offer the best opportunities in this segment. Contract sterilization for pharmaceutical and other sterile medical product manufacturers will record the largest revenues among infection prevention services based on stricter Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations and increasing product shipments.

Services will provide the fastest growth opportunities to the infection prevention industry. Demand for contract sterilization services will expand at a fast pace as pharmaceutical and medical device producers broaden the use of outsourcing to meet increasingly stringent FDA regulations for product and package sterility. Demand for infectious waste disposal services will rise as hospitals and other healthcare facilities turn increasingly to outside contractors to upgrade safety standards and improve efficiencies.

Source:  Freedonia Group