With a challenging new decade of scientific discovery looming, 2019 is the positioning year for biopharma to make value, transparency, information and culture work seamlessly to achieve innovations that matter to patients, payers and society.

The relative absence of blockbuster M&A within medtech in 2018, compared with recent years, does not mean that consolidation of the industry – and of providers and payers – will not continue apace in 2019 and beyond. In fact, it is written – if not in the stars then possibly in digital coding – that there will be fewer and bigger entities at the top end of the ecosystem of medtech stakeholders. And rising demand will be met more and more by digital tools and functionalities.