More than 20 US leading medtech executives went to Capitol Hill last week to urge Congress to help preserve the industry’s competitiveness and global leadership in the development of new medical devices and diagnostics.

“America’s medical technology companies, large and small, are engines of economic progress. With more than 2 million jobs supported by this industry, we need public policies in place that will encourage growth and job creation,” says Stephen J. Ubl, president and CEO of AdvaMed (Advanced Medical Technology Association).

The legislative fly-in comes on the heels of the launch of the association’s “Competitiveness Agenda” – a six-point plan that would make it easier for American medical progress to thrive: from promoting early-stage R&D and more efficient and predictable FDA regulation, to adequate reimbursement and fair access to foreign markets.

“These are challenging times and policies at all levels should be considered in context of our global competitiveness,” said Ubl.  

A recent PwC study comparing the US and nine other major world economies across five indicators of medical technology innovation raises red flags for American competitiveness. While the US is still the global leader, PwC indicated declines in the country’s capacity to support innovation and projected those declines to continue in the future. Meanwhile countries like China, India, and Brazil are gaining at America’s expense.

AdvaMed’s Competitiveness Agenda can be found here.