The Life Sciences Growth Engine Runs on Silicon
Abstract:
Healthcare is shifting from reactive, one-size-fits-all treatment to care that is proactive, personalized, continuous, and algorithmically guided — and that shift runs on silicon. Sensing, compute, memory, power, and connectivity now underpin the fastest-growing corners of life sciences: digital health, diagnostic imaging, wearables, and in-vitro diagnostics.
But value is not evenly shared. Since 2022, roughly 90% of MedTech companies have trailed the market while the top decile has outperformed by about threefold — a widening gap in which growth is the decisive driver. As devices grow more complex, OEMs rely on more technology partners than ever, opening strategic ground for the semiconductor ecosystem.
This session will provide a vendor-neutral view of where value is created at the semiconductor–life-sciences boundary — and how both sides of the room can participate. Silicon is the connective layer; the winners will move early, partner deliberately, and turn regulatory requirements into advantage.
Biography:
Derrick leads McKinsey’s product development work in Asia–Pacific. Since joining the firm, he has worked with clients to create better product and service offerings across a range of industries, including medical technologies, industrial equipment, and consumer goods. Combining a background in design and engineering with extensive operations experience, Derrick helps oversee efforts to enable transformative product innovation that supports clients’ business and growth strategies. Prior to transitioning to the firm’s Tokyo office, he helped establish the McKinsey Design Practice globally as the CEO of LUNAR.
Examples of his recent client work include the following:
- establishing a consumer-packaged-goods client’s new innovation process, including building an internal incubator and developing a first wave of products expected to generate $300 million in incremental revenues
- creating a medical-device manufacturer’s new product-development operating model, which balances internal and external resources to optimize productivity and reduce time to market
- institutionalizing a design-based productivity program tasked with relaunching 70 percent of an industrial client’s product portfolio over three years to generate $450 million in margin gains and drive improvements in user experience
- enabling a technology company to optimize entry to a new product market by evaluating acquisition options versus organic development of the a product portfolio
Passionate about the role design can play in transforming industries, Derrick speaks frequently on a range of topics that touch on the integration of design and business thinking.