
Israel is the only “western” country in the Middle East. With a population of 7.4 Million, it is well known for innovation, both from developing & export, & for technology adoption. The high level of medical care is led by a few university hospitals in the 4 major cities. Being a small country, one may feel that everybody knows everyone.
A few tips that may help a company considering entering the Israeli market:
Regulatory – if you have CE or FDA approvals you shall not have regulatory difficulties. Reimbursement – Define the procedures of your product, most of the products don’t need special reimbursement (especially if they are a part of the procedure), if you need special reimbursement – it could take 1-3 years, but it does not prevent penetration of the products to the Israeli market to some extent. Procedures opportunities – Define the KOL (Key opinion leaders) by the number of procedures, their activity and/or by number of patients that they see, not by their name. The use of media for personal PR may bias one away from the real high volume clinicians. Define the market segment -
The Israeli market offers great opportunities for all the product segments:
ü Low cost products – The health expenditure in Israel is one of the highest worldwide. The MOH and hospitals try to reduce the expenditure on the medical devices.
ü New technologies: The regulatory and the reimbursement allow fast penetration to the market. However, pricing may pose a problem sometimes .But the private market (35% of the procedures) could be a great solution as a first penetration step.
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