NICU Catheter Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The NICU catheter market is projected to register a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period (2022-2027).

During the rapidly evolving pandemic of COVID-19 infection in 2020-2021, pregnant women and their newborn infants with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections formed a special vulnerable group. They required immediate attention during the pandemic such as resources for prevention of transmission, diagnosis of infection, and providing clinical care during labor, resuscitation, and postnatal period. Majorly procedures included endotracheal intubation, minimally invasive surfactant therapy (MIST), and umbilical catheter insertion. Also, some babies require continuous blood pressure (BP) monitoring which can be performed using a catheter in one of the baby's arteries. For instance, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,321 children tested positive for COVID-19 during the initial phase of the pandemic in 2020 in China. Out of which 18.1 % were less than one year of age. The neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) were critically ill from the SARS-CoV-2 infection and suffered from fever & poor feeding. Thereby, raising the demand for NICU catheters and contributing to the market growth.

Further, researchers found that neonates and young infants who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 are more likely to develop sepsis-like syndrome (SLS). As per the research article published by National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) in February 2021, a study was conducted in Hamad General Hospital (HGH), The State of Qatar, which included infants less than 8 weeks of age admitted with SLS between 1st April 2020 and 1st July 2020. They are tested for COVID-19 and found that around 40% of infants are COVID-19 positive. Neonatal sepsis is a major health problem that causes serious morbidity & mortality.

Hence, due to the above-mentioned reasons, NICU catheter industry gained immense opportunities from the pandemic in neonatal coronavirus infection management and currently, they are in extensive demand across all the regions.

The prevalence of premature deliveries is rising every year across the world. Premature birth is called when a baby is born before the completed 37 weeks of gestation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the United States, the premature birth rate has been on an upward trajectory consistently, with 2019 being the fifth consecutive year in a row that the preterm rate increased. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 15 million babies are born preterm every year, and this number is rising. Though there are no certain factors for preterm delivery, the researchers found that the social and economic factors have impacted the most of premature deliveries, such as unequal access to maternal care and high poverty rates. These reasons have increased a mother's risk of delivering prematurely. So, vascular access is essential in a premature baby for nutrition, taking blood, and delivery of medicines & fluids. Thus, various types of lines and catheters are used for vascular access such as central venous, peripheral intravenous, umbilical venous, and peripherally inserted central venous catheters in premature babies. Since there is a surge in premature deliveries, that resulted into rapid growth of in demand of NICU catheter, thereby contributing in market growth.

However, risk of infection and stringent regulatory framework are major factors hindering the NICU catheter market's growth.

Key Market Trends

The Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters (PICCs) segment is Expected to Hold a Significant Market Share in the NICU Catheter Market

Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters (PICCs) are long, thin tubes useful for newborn vein access for the administration of fluids and medications. These are extensively used in neonates to provide nutritional support for critically ill or very low birth weight newborns.

The requirement for PICCs is anticipated to rise due to escalating preterm births. According to the Central Disease and Prevention (CDC), one in ten babies are born preterm globally, and this rate has been increasing. The statisticians observed that the preterm birth rate is higher in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), China has a preterm birth rate of 6.9%, the second-highest number of preterm births at 1.16 million per year in the world. Moreover, in Brazil around 340,000 babies are born prematurely each year, that’s double the preterm rate in Europe. Thus, in recent years, there has been a great evolution of awareness regarding the management of PICC in the neonatal population.

Hence, the rise in preterm births will require neonatal care, for which PICCs are a vital instrument. So, the market for PICCs is expected to grow in the coming future.

Asia-Pacific is Projected to Have a Prominent Growth Rate

Asia-Pacific is expected to grow exponentially in the forecast period, owing to the high preterm birth rate. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in 2022, preterm birth rates registered higher in South Asia ranging from 3.2% in Ghana to 15.7% in Pakistan and contributing to 49% of all neonatal deaths in the region. Additionally, India, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Pakistan reported a large number of preterm births that accounted for over 40% of preterm births globally.

Moreover, the rising mortality rate of maternal further fuels the growth of the NICU catheter market, attributable to the poverty and weak health systems in the countries. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), tens of thousands of women across Asia-Pacific die unnecessarily every year, due to bad quality of obstetric, antenatal, and perinatal care. This leads to the exceptionally high average maternal mortality rate in Asia-Pacific, which is 127 per 100,000 live births, compared to the average of developed-country just 12 per 100,000.

So, the Government is taking initiatives to improve maternal and newborn health. For instance, the Government of India has envisioned increasing health spending from the existing 1.15% to 2.5% of GDP by 2025. Further, June 2021, Chinese Government handed over medical supplies to the Ministry of Health procured by UNICEF to improve newborn babies health.

Therefore, due to the aforementioned factors, the NICU catheter market is expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The NICU catheter market is moderately fragmented and consists of several major players. In terms of market share, a few of the major players are currently dominating the market. Some of the companies which are currently dominating the market are ICU Medical Inc. (Smiths Medical, Inc.), Cardinal Health Inc., Vygon SA Utah Medical Products, Inc., NeoMedical Inc., Advin Health Care, Marian Medical Inc., Footprint Medical Incorporated, Angiplast Pvt. Ltd., and Greiner Bio-One International GmbH.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

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