The dispute over an “unfair” payback tax looks set to provide both the momentum and ammunition for a full-scale review of how healthcare is funded, seen through the lens of Italian medtech manufacturers and suppliers.

The outlook for sustained COVID-19 recovery in Italy has cheered the medtech industry, but the private sector spend has contracted, and Italy’s imaging equipment is aging rapidly.

Brazil's ABIMO medtech industry association reports newly-buoyant levels of export activity, as normal business routines crystalize further in the post-COVID phase. Meanwhile, member companies of the Brazil Health Devices initiative are outperforming industry averages.

Italy must ensure that ongoing efforts to tackle the coronavirus crisis do not rely on single suppliers, the country's medtech industry body said after DiaSorin looked likely to be the sole winner of a major COVID-19 diagnostics tender.

All medtech in Brazil will soon be subject to standardized industrial tariffs and development-related fiscal incentives, following a reform of rules relating to ICT across all industries.

The Italian medtech industry association Confindustria Dispositivi Medici has launched a major survey of the activities and investment strategies of the sector’s almost 4,000 domestic developers and manufacturers.