Safety syringes booming

The market for retractable syringes designed to prevent needlestick injuries is set for explosive growth and could expand nearly seven-fold by 2006, according to a new report.

The new analysis from Frost & Sullivan​, suggests that this market generated revenues worth $55 million (€47m) in 2002 and is likely to reach $360 million in 2006.

"Technology advancement coupled with demographics are the key drivers for the retractable syringes markets,"​ according to Amit Bohora, F&S' medical device practice leader.

Customer behavior continues to evolve and, despite their best intentions, retractable syringe manufacturers are struggling to coordinate their efforts across product and channel lines and to fully understand their customer segments and preferences, according to the report.

"Everybody is waiting for retractable syringe products to penetrate the market. A number of companies are developing innovative ways to make the syringes safer for the users,"​ said Bohora. New legislative guidelines from regulators are also helping to increase the awareness and acceptance of retractable syringes.

The high growth anticipated in the market is largely an issue of scale. Thomas Shaw, CEO of Retractable Technologies​, noted that "the future market for automated retraction syringes is the entire estimated 30 billion unit injection market, in that there are essentially no clinical applications for which the new technology is not only suitable, but life saving."​

Each year, 600,000-1,000,000 accidental needlesticks are reported in the USA alone. Even more alarming is that it is estimated that only one third of all incidents are reported. Meanwhile, eighty-nine per cent of healthcare workers who have HIV or hepatitis B virus contract the disease from needlestick-induced infections.

The report, called World Retractable Syringes Markets is published by F&S' Strategic Analysis Service. For more information, contact the publisher​.