21-Mar-16 Johnson & Johnson has seen the profitability of its consumer and medical device sectors flag in recent years, prompting activist investor Artisan to put pressure on the firm. The company’s executives recently shared their vision for growing its medical device business with a six-pronged plan that includes boosting its consumer medical devices business and expanding into emerging markets. [image: Johnson & Johnson]

17-Mar-16 Canon Inc is to buy Toshiba Corp's medical equipment unit for JPY665.5 bn (USD6 bn). Canon, which makes X-ray machines and eye examination devices, has been trying for years to expand into high-margin medical devices, particularly as demand for traditional cameras has declined with the advent of smartphones. [image: Reuters]

18-Feb-16 If current trends continue, half the world’s population (4.8 bn people) will be short-sighted in just over three decades, with one-fifth of those expected to have a significantly increased risk of blindness. 96% of teenagers in Korea are short-sighted and in Singapore, China and Japan the rate is around 80-90%. [image: Nomad_Soul / Shutterstock.com]

17-Feb-16 Bausch + Lomb has entered a partnership in India with global technology company Bosch. This cooperation brings together leading providers of eye care solutions and technology in India, to market diagnostic devices in the ophthalmic segment. Bausch + Lomb will market Bosch's Fundus retina camera, which can detect conditions such as cataract at an early stage. [image: Bausch & Lomb]

21-Jan-16 The Association of Malaysian Medical Industries (AMMI) supports the the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which it expects to provide wider access for exports into TPP countries, especially the US with which Malaysia has no trade agreement. Malaysia's medical devices industry mainly produces disposables, but is moving up the value chain and producing more high value medical devices such as orthopaedics and dialysers. [image: Hafzi Mohamed / TMR]