Read the Conversation
Meeting Highlights:
- 2025, The Year of Bringing Vantive to Life: The spin-off marks a pivotal year focused on establishing Vantive as an independent organization dedicated to renal and critical care. Priorities include building strong relationships with the government and creating a sustainable organization with a robust, patient-centric culture.
- Becoming the Expert in Kidney Care: Vantive's vast portfolio and innovative solutions aim to increase access to life-saving treatments, including dialysis, hemodialysis, and multi-organ ICU support. The reorganization allows for a sharper focus and deeper impact in addressing unmet needs in renal care.
- Access, Affordability, and Awareness: The cluster currently supports 40,000 patients, but many unmet needs in kidney disease remain.
- Vantive aims to improve kidney disease outcomes by sharing more knowledge and raising awareness. To expand access and improve care delivery, Vantive plans to collaborate closely with the government, hospitals, and patients.
- As the new President of AMID, Carlos is committed to strengthening government relationships and enhancing MedTech's role within the Mexican healthcare industry. He aims to leverage opportunities to generate valuable knowledge and insights through health data, further driving innovation.
EF: In 2025, what are your top priorities as general manager?
CE: This year, our primary goal is to establish our market position and launch our new business, Vantive. As Baxter, we have a long history in renal and kidney therapy. We aim to bridge the gap between this legacy and the development of the Vantive brand. Our second objective is to collaborate with the government and partners to offer new and improved options for patients with renal disease. This includes working on digital projects to improve patient and physician outcomes.
The third objective is to create a sustainable organization by building a strong leadership pipeline and fostering a culture that ensures future success. Developing new capabilities is challenging, and starting a new business is often easier than expanding an existing one. This makes it a tough but exciting moment for us. Professionally, it is one of those rare opportunities to play a significant role in shaping a new company.
EF: With the new focus on renal care, how are you planning to apply the iron triangle of access, cost, and awareness?
CE: Our three business units include dialysis—our market strength—hemodialysis, and multi-organ support for ICU patients. We estimate that 20,000–40,000 renal patients in our territory lack access, and we aim to collaborate with the government on solutions. Expanding renal care has been a positive development under the past administration. We have worked to provide peritoneal dialysis, and government tenders are moving in the right direction, increasing patient access. This remains a key focus this year.
Multi-organ support is an exciting area with strong growth potential. Though expanding in Mexico over the past decade, it remains underserved. Our goal is to make this technology more accessible to hospitals and doctors. We are working with the government on cost-effective implementation in ICUs to improve access.
Regarding affordability, we believe the government should support peritoneal dialysis as the most economical option. We deliver supplies to patients’ homes, allowing them to continue work and daily life. In contrast, hemodialysis requires frequent clinic visits, more time, and personnel, and costs 30–50% more.
To raise awareness, we focus on three areas. First, we educate patients on chronic kidney disease (CKD) before kidney failure. When patients require dialysis, we give them tools to help them better understand the illness and their alternatives after admission. We also collaborate with patient associations to improve understanding, particularly among economically disadvantaged communities lacking information or resources. Digital training, social media engagement, and outreach help to make informed decisions.
Second, we work to educate nephrologists, as many in Mexico are unfamiliar with peritoneal dialysis and its benefits. Third, we assist the government in developing guidelines to improve dialysis conditions. Currently, patients in Mexico have a life expectancy of less than two years on therapy, whereas peritoneal dialysis extends survival by four to five years in other countries. We are also shaping policies to enhance hospital-based care.
EF: What is the roadmap to achieving a cost-effective balance between digital innovation and sustainability in healthcare in the future?
CE: Balancing both aspects is crucial. We often focus so much on immediate needs that we lose sight of the future. At Vantive, we do not see digital tools in isolation but as a way to enhance our products and improve patient care. For peritoneal dialysis patients, our goal is to help them optimize daily therapy. Digital technologies enable better follow-up between clinicians and patients at home. A key step in this mission is our extensive morning telemonitoring, which has shown promising results in extending therapy sessions.
The second part of our roadmap focuses on empowering patients. We’ve developed apps that help them track dialysis and medical data, providing insights into their treatment and connecting with clinicians for better outcomes. After years of development, nearly 1,000 patients in our cluster now use the app.
Looking ahead, we aim to support clinicians in delivering more effective therapy. We are developing digital tools to improve prescription accuracy and follow-up, assisting daily decision-making. Digital products are a growing focus at headquarters, with increased investment to build a strong pipeline for the future.
EF: How will you build a new workforce reflecting Vantive’s shift to patient-centric services?
CE: This requires a major shift in how we develop and recruit talent. The individuals we brought from Baxter have deep expertise in therapy and patient care. Our direct proximity to patients sets us apart from other MedTech companies. In our cluster, we serve over 40,000 people, visiting their homes monthly to interact with patients and caregivers. Many of our sales representatives are former nurses with clinical experience, giving us a strong understanding of patient needs both at home and in clinics.
At Vantive, we have clinical expertise and a solid grasp of the patient journey. However, we now need to integrate digital capabilities. Selling digital products differs from physical ones, so we are hiring talent with the right skills. Another key challenge is focusing on a single product while transitioning from Baxter’s large portfolio, which can lead to faster decision-making.
Our focus is threefold: preserving clinical expertise, building digital capabilities, and becoming a more innovative, agile company that delivers solutions faster.
EF: Why is it better to invest a dollar in Mexico, than investing elsewhere?
CE: There are many reasons to invest. Despite political unpredictability, Mexico remains the U.S.'s most significant economic partner, making it well-positioned for continued investment. Most U.S. medical device companies have manufacturing facilities here, and Mexico ranks seventh in global medical device exports, highlighting its manufacturing expertise. Additionally, there are significant unmet patient needs, creating opportunities for new technologies and innovative solutions.
Despite being a top medical product exporter, usage within Mexico remains low. Innovation and technology access still lag, leaving room for existing and new businesses to invest in manufacturing and services. Many patients lack proper diagnosis and treatment, presenting opportunities for market growth. Our company aims to prevent diseases and is exploring digital solutions to help people avoid dialysis.
EF: As the incoming president, what are your objectives and what values will you bring to AMID?
CE: I have worked closely with the previous government for two years and plan to continue in that role. We aim to remain a trusted partner, advising the new administration with fresh ideas to improve patient care. Medtech differs from pharmaceuticals, contributing uniquely to the economy and healthcare system.
I also want to expand our industry expertise. There are knowledge gaps, and we have an opportunity to better understand stakeholders, medical device consumption, and underserved areas, positioning ourselves as data-driven consultants. We also aim to remain leaders and spokespersons for Mexico’s medical device industry.
While every AMID general manager contributes to our recommendations, we want them to take a larger role, providing more data and insights. We seek greater involvement from AMID’s 46 leaders.
EF: By year-end, what accomplishment would you like to celebrate?
CE: Expanding treatment options and helping patients live 10–20% longer is a top priority. Success means making a meaningful impact on patients, the community, and society in Mexico. We want Vantive to be recognized as a kidney disease specialist—an innovative organization with a strong collaborative culture.
EF: Any final message for our readers?
CE: As MedTech companies, we must improve healthcare quality for Mexico’s population. Achieving excellence on par with developed nations requires ongoing effort. While there’s still a long way to go, Vantive remains committed to enhancing lives and expanding opportunities across the healthcare system.
