Double-Digit Growth Expected for South Korean Coronary Stents Market

South Korea’s coronary stents market is set to expand rapidly over the next four years, with annual growth rates nearing 12 percent, according to GlobalData. 

Such robust expansion is forecast to be driven by increasing use of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) for the treatment of heart diseases. Drug eluting stents (DES) accounted for more than 95 percent of the South Korean coronary market in 2020. 

“With about 600,000 population suffering from angina pectoris and myocardial infarction in 2020, there is a strong demand for coronary stenting procedures in South Korea,” said Vedant Goswami, a medical devices analyst at GlobalData.

In addition, the coronary stents market growth in South Korea is driven by improved outcomes of stenting procedures and lower prices. Access to quality healthcare facilities and better screening and diagnosis are expected to further boost the market growth.

Boston Scientific Corp. was the leading player in the South Korean coronary stents market in 2020, followed by Abbott Laboratories and Medtronic plc. Together these companies accounted for around 85 percent of the market in 2020.

“The use of DES devices in coronary stenting procedures is quite high in South Korea due to their superior clinical outcomes compared to other stents. This trend is expected to continue in the future mainly due to the decline of bare metal stents’ usage and long-term clinical trials assessing the safety and effectiveness of bioabsorbable stents (BAS) are still under progress. High cost of BAS compared to DES is also a major factor for increased adoption of DES in South Korea,” Goswami noted.