Synex Korea Medical Device Market Report - Intraocular Lenses 2023

As of 2022, the total market size of intraocular lenses in Korea is estimated to be approximately ***units (***USD) by manufacturers'/importers' initial selling unit and ***units (***USD) by medical institutions' purchase unit.
It is estimated that the relatively high production/import volume compared to the actual purchases by medical institutions is due to uncirculated products owned by manufacturers/importers and consignment inventories held by medical institutions. Consignment inventory held by medical institutions means products sold by medical institutions and yet, the ownership is retained by the suppliers until they have been actually used to patients.

The intraocular lens market is expected to maintain an average annual growth rate of ***% for the next 5 years and as a result, the market size is projected to be approximately ***USD (manufacturers/importers' initial selling prices) and ***USD (medical institutions' purchase prices). The average annual growth rates over the next five years are calculated respectively ***% for reimbursement products and ***% for non-reimbursement products.

The number of intraocular lenses actually purchased by medical institutions in 2022 estimated to be approximately ***. Among them, it is estimated that approximately ***units (***%) are reimbursement intraocular lenses, and approximately ***units (***%) are non-reimbursement intraocular lenses.

The purchase volume in 2022 is estimated to have increased by an average annual rate of ***% over the past four years compared to that of 2018, approximately ***units (*** reimbursement products + *** non-reimbursement products). However, compared to the previous year 2021, the use of reimbursement products is estimated to have decreased by ***%, and non-reimbursement products by ***% in 2022. More tightly-drawn criteria of indemnity medical insurances are regarded as one of the major factors for the decrease.

Intraocular lenses are divided into ***product groups in the National Health Insurance Therapeutic Materials List, and only accommodative IOLs are non-reimbursement lenses among them.

The total intraocular lens market by end-user type (medical institutions) can be divided into reimbursement products and non-reimbursement products. For reimbursement intraocular lenses, the amounts used are as follows: clinics (***units ***%), hospitals (***units ***%), tertiary hospitals (***units, ***%), general hospitals (***units ***%). On the other hand, for non-reimbursement intraocular lenses, the amounts used at hospitals are ***units (***%) and can be said as ***. Monofocal IOLs are mainly circulated for clinics with the implementation of the 7-DRG system, while multifocal IOLs are mainly distributed at hospitals.

As of June 2023, there are *** products of *** manufacturers/importers listed as reimbursement or non-reimbursement on the National Health Insurance Reimbursement and Non-Reimbursement Therapeutic Materials and Reimbursement Price Cap. Major suppliers of the intraocular lens market include Alcon, Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision, Zeiss, and Hoya.

Multifocal intraocular lenses are high-margin products for IOL companies. The National Health Insurance classifies them as non-reimbursement products, and therefore, the suppliers have the discretion to determine the selling prices. The market share of the major multifocal intraocular lens suppliers is estimated as follows: around ***% for Alcon, around ***% for Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision, and around ***% for Zeiss. The combined market share of the top two suppliers accounts for ***% of the entire market, and other suppliers are known to divide the remaining market.

As high-quality intraocular lens imports entered the domestic market in 2015, the multifocal intraocular lenses market began to form in earnest. In addition, awareness of multifocal intraocular lenses among healthcare providers and patients increased rapidly leading up to a bigger market for IOLs. The intraocular lens market is expected to continue to grow over the next five years with the following factors: the aging population, an increasing numbers of patients in their 40s and 50s diagnosed with early cataracts, and growing public awareness through TV advertisements.