MedTech Europe Welcomes the European Chips Act
Posted on 10.02.2022
MedTech Europe welcomes the publication of the European Chips Act and shares the objective of the European Commission to address semiconductor shortages and strengthen Europe’s technological leadership, by bolstering its competitiveness, resilience and helping achieve both the digital and green transition.
The global semiconductor crisis has impacted the medical technology sector just as many other industrial ecosystems. Hundreds of lifesaving medical technologies rely on semiconductor chips to function, including diagnostic testing devices, patient monitoring systems, ventilators and other respiratory devices, robot-aided surgical equipment, ultrasounds, neonatal ICU machinery, and continuous blood glucose monitors.
The availability of semiconductor chips is essential in delivering effective and timely patient care. Medical technology manufacturers, both large companies and SMEs, have reported delays in delivery times of up to 18 months, compared with five to eight months before the crisis. Furthermore, they face difficulties in finding alternative chips suppliers that can deliver chipsets with the high level of reliability, stability and performance required by the regulatory frameworks for medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices.
The European Commission rightly aims to develop policies that will increase the overall chips capacity in the mid and long-term. This approach should take into consideration the different types of chips needed by the various industries and the variety of technologies they provide.
However, to address the semiconductors crisis now, any EU policy should ensure a sufficient supply of chips to the medical technology sector in order to provide, without interruptions, products, solutions and services to patients and healthcare systems.
MedTech Europe and its members will closely collaborate with the European institutions to explore short, mid- and long- term measures that facilitate a continuous supply of semiconductors used in medical applications with the ultimate goal to ensure a continued high quality healthcare delivery in Europe and the world.