Clinic survey
Structured data from 24 Colombian clinics on products, payment routes, treatment volume, and vial practices.
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Anonymized Case Study · Medical Device · Latin America
Sizing the opportunity for a zero-residual ophthalmic syringe in Colombia.
We combined clinic research, treatment-volume modeling, pricing, regulation, and conversations with retina specialists to determine where a new syringe could create measurable value.
Map treatment volumeProducts, cities, clinics
Validate the workflowHandling and clinical practice
Model the economicsMedication cost and waste
Prioritize entrySettings and stakeholders
The challenge
A technically strong device still needed a commercial reason to exist.
The client was evaluating a silicone-oil-free, zero-residual syringe for intravitreal injections. The product promised more precise delivery and less medication left inside the syringe, but its value depended on local treatment patterns.
The core question was not simply how many injections were performed. We needed to understand which drugs were used, who paid, how clinics handled vials and syringes, where treatment volume was concentrated, and when reducing residual waste would matter economically.
Which clinical settings and anti-VEGF treatments offered the strongest entry point for the device?
Methodology
Primary research anchored the market model.
The study combined reported clinic behavior with published evidence and live market conversations. Each source answered a different part of the commercial question.
Volume estimation
Regional estimates combining clinic data, population, facilities, specialist supply, and published injection rates.
Price research
Wholesale, pharmacy, and clinic price checks for Avastin, Eylea, Lucentis, and other anti-VEGF options.
Regulatory review
INVIMA guidance, product instructions, single-use requirements, and constraints around repackaging.
Clinical workflow research
How products moved from vial or prefilled presentation to the injection procedure and where waste could occur.
PAAO field intelligence
Booth conversations with retina specialists and market stakeholders from Colombia and other Latin American markets.
Market scale
Demand was concentrated in a small number of urban ophthalmology hubs.
The market model estimated national intravitreal volume and then distributed opportunity using infrastructure, specialist availability, and primary research.
159,460
estimated intravitreal injections
A directional 2023 market estimate for the three principal anti-VEGF products in Colombia.
Estimated volume by priority market
Directional estimates produced from primary and secondary data. They are market-planning inputs, not audited utilization counts.
Treatment mix
The largest product by volume was not automatically the best commercial target.
Avastin dominated estimated use because of its affordability. The zero-residual value proposition became more financially meaningful as medication cost increased.
Avastin 50%
Eylea 30%
Lucentis 20%
Avastin created scale, but its lower cost reduced the economic value of recovering small residual volumes.
Eylea and Lucentis created a clearer economic argument for precision and reduced medication loss.
Specialist conversations indicated that newer anti-VEGF options were gaining attention and should be tracked in entry planning.
Clinical workflow
The opportunity sat inside the medication-handling process.
Understanding the device required following the treatment from product presentation to final injection, including the practical and regulatory limits on vial use.
Vial or prefilled presentation
The medication enters the clinic in formats with different transfer requirements.
Aseptic handling
Single-use guidance and repackaging rules shape what can happen inside the clinic.
Intravitreal injection
Precision, silicone exposure, dead space, and ease of use become relevant.
Medication left behind
The financial consequence rises with the value of the drug and procedure volume.
Commercial implication
Do not sell a syringe. Quantify the value of what it prevents clinics from losing.
The strongest story connected residual reduction to expensive medication, repeated procedures, clinical handling, and operational consistency.
Medication economics
Package prices changed the value equation.
Wholesale and pharmacy checks showed a wide cost range across commonly used anti-VEGF medications.
Avastin
~1.25M COPApproximate vial price. High use and lower cost created a different syringe economics case.
Lucentis
1.87–2.80M COPObserved package-price range across available vial presentations.
Eylea
2.08–3.05M COPObserved range across vial and prefilled presentations.
COP prices collected through wholesale and pharmacy research in December 2024 and reviewed in May 2025. Visual bars indicate relative package-price ceilings, not clinical value.
Payment and access
Private payment was part of the commercial reality.
The clinic survey showed that treatment access crossed government, insurance, and direct-payment routes. These categories overlapped within facilities.
surveyed clinics accepted out-of-pocket payment
This did not mean every treatment was privately paid. It showed that direct payment was available across nearly the entire clinic sample.
clinics reported government-supported payment routes
clinics reported some insurance use, typically at lower levels
clinic in the sample did not report accepting out-of-pocket payment
Clinic-level availability of payment routes. Counts are not mutually exclusive and should not be read as national reimbursement shares.
Latin American context
The Colombia model was tested against regional field signals.
PAAO 2025 created a second layer of market intelligence: direct conversations about clinical practice, regulation, institutions, product adoption, and potential partners across the region.
ColombiaMexicoCosta RicaParaguayBrazil
PAAO 2025
field signals
field signals
The conference work surfaced institutional leads, specialist perspectives, differences in payment and aliquoting practices, and interest in tools that could make intravitreal injection safer and more consistent. These conversations expanded the opportunity map without treating Latin America as one uniform market.
Market-entry priorities
The research narrowed the first commercial conversations.
Start with premium anti-VEGF workflows
Lead where the financial consequence of residual medication is easiest to demonstrate.
Target concentrated treatment centers
Prioritize high-volume retina clinics and institutions in major ophthalmology hubs.
Prove workflow fit locally
Validate handling, sterility, regulatory requirements, and clinician experience before broad expansion.
Strategic implication
The entry case depended on value per procedure, not national volume alone.
Market size established that an opportunity existed. Product mix, medication price, clinical workflow, and payment structure showed where that opportunity was most commercially credible.
Evidence standard
What this study can and cannot establish.
The work supports commercial planning through directional estimates, clinic-reported behavior, price observations, regulatory review, and qualitative field intelligence. It does not replace audited national utilization data, a regulatory opinion, or a clinical evaluation of the device.
Regional insights reflect specific conversations and should be validated market by market before launch.