Read the Conversation
Conversation highlights:
- S+N MENA continues to outperform the market, delivering a robust 14% YTD growth vs. LY, with a clear trajectory to reach ~19% by year-end 2025. This momentum reflects disciplined operational excellence, a decisive shift away from price-led competition, and a stronger emphasis on value creation, differentiated propositions, and patient-centric strategies.
- Sherif views the Gulf & Levant region as a strategic emerging growth engine, with its scale, demographic profile, and ambitious national healthcare transformations (particularly in Saudi Arabia and the UAE) positioning it as a critical pillar for Smith+Nephew’s “Life Unlimited” mission and long-term emerging-markets strategy.
- Growth is broad-based and healthy across all business units, i.e., Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Trauma, and Wound Care. Most business units are tracking double-digit expansion, underpinned by efforts to unlock new patient segments, elevate standards of care, and expand clinical access across the region.
- Sherif highlighted how his Pharma background brings immediate strategic value in insights and data-driven marketing, segmentation discipline, field-force excellence, and talent development, all reinforcing stronger commercial execution. He also acknowledged that MedTech’s unique operational demands, from instrument set management to surgical workflows, offer a clear opportunity to broaden his expertise further and drive greater process and efficiency gains across the business.
- Sherif emphasized that the future competitive landscape will pivot toward segment and indication-based patient-management tenders, supported by deeper public–private collaboration. As national registries mature, contracting models will increasingly shift from product consumption to outcomes and the number of patients treated. He also highlighted that robotics and AI will accelerate surgical precision and efficiency, but will augment, not replace, the critical role of clinical specialists.
EF: As we approach the end of the year and look toward 2026, how would you assess 2025 from your perspective? What are the key priorities as you look ahead?
SH: It’s been a very fulfilling year, probably one of the most rewarding in my professional life. Reflecting on my journey, I come from the pharmaceutical industry, with 28 years of experience there, and the Gulf and Levant really became like my backyard. I am familiar with regulations, dynamics, and the laws. That familiarity helped me a lot when Smith+Nephew approached me in 2022.
Initially, I was handling Levant as part of my region out of Egypt, and then, with each passing year, I took on more responsibilities, first Saudi Arabia, then the Gulf, and subsequently Pakistan. It was all driven by a strong acceleration vision. I was given the task and the budget: “Here’s the budget, here are the resources, now go and build momentum.”
I conducted a deep-dive assessment, and we began incorporating insights from pharma, such as operational excellence, digitalization, 360-degree marketing, and portfolio optimization, all areas I had utilized extensively in my previous role. When I took over the full region, which I’ve now been managing for a bit over a year & half, we began to see the results. A few days ago, I shared a message with the team celebrating that we had already hit our budget by November 7. That was echoed in the CEO’s town hall and also during his address to the market, where he called out the Middle East specifically in the AWM (advanced wound management), which I’m very proud of.
If I had to sum up our 2025 focus, it was about getting back to basics: building a strong field force, focusing on execution, positioning, and playing the marketing game right. And what made the difference was leading with value, not price. That philosophy really worked for us. We are closing the year with potentially 19% growth, which is more than double the market CAGR.
EF: You mentioned Smith+Nephew is part of the emerging markets cluster. Can you tell us how you define the strategic importance of the Gulf and Levant region for the company?
SH: The very name of our cluster, emerging markets, says a lot. It’s not just a label, it’s a mindset. When it comes to the MENA region, we’re talking about a region of around half a billion people with varying degrees of infrastructure, access, and budgetary constraints, but still full of opportunity.
This is the part of the world where population growth is a real driver of both demand and long-term potential. But beyond business metrics, there’s also a deeper purpose. At Smith+Nephew, we say we’re here to support “Life Unlimited.” When you provide access to care for patients who might be burn victims, diabetic foot ulcers, or trauma, yet in areas with budget constraints, you’re adding something meaningful to humanity.
Of course, we’re not doing that at a loss. But even if we sometimes break even or generate modest profit, we’re still creating impact. And that’s a rewarding feeling. That mindset applies just as much in the Levant as in the Gulf. And when I say the Gulf is the crown jewel of the Middle East, I mean it. Saudi Arabia and the Emirates have robust, well-publicized healthcare visions and an ambition to ensure healthcare coverage for locals and expatriates alike.
That brings with it an enormous sense of responsibility. However, the Middle East will remain central to the broader emerging markets narrative, whether compared to other emerging markets. This region is becoming a cornerstone in the global growth story of MedTech.
EF: Let’s talk about your portfolio. What does performance look like across your business units, orthopedics, sports medicine, and wound management?
SH: Our core portfolio is spread across five business units: orthopedics, sports medicine, advanced wound management (AWM), trauma, and a smaller ENT business. What’s unique about this region, particularly in Saudi Arabia, is the ongoing acceleration in SPM (particularly with the FIFA World Cup 2034 being hosted in Saudi Arabia) and orthopedics.
Here in the MENA region, we’ve been advocating for balanced growth. Across orthopedics, sports medicine, AWM, and trauma, we’re aiming for, and in some cases achieving, double-digit growth. This compares with an average market growth of 6–7%. That means we’re either outperforming within existing segments or expanding access to patient groups that were previously underserved.
So we’re not putting all our eggs in one basket. It’s a very balanced growth ambition across the full suite. We’re achieving this through strong planning, field activation, and creating access strategies tailored to the specific challenges of each segment.
EF: Going back to your transition, what was it like moving from pharma to MedTech, especially in terms of operations? What did you bring with you, and what was totally new?
SH: There are three areas where I noticed real contrasts.
First: data. In pharma, you had IQVIA. Allowing you to see your market share, price-volume analysis, and sales by segment, it was seamless. That kind of data infrastructure didn’t exist in the same way in medtech, at least when I joined. But it’s changing. My pharmaceutical background provided a strong foundation in segmentation, positioning, and closed-loop marketing. I’m a marketeer at heart, most of my career was in marketing, so I brought that knowledge into our external communication strategies.
Second: People. When I arrived in Saudi Arabia, the RHQ (Regional Headquarters) initiative was just being implemented. To access public tenders, companies established a physical presence. I arrived just before the deadline, and we managed to fulfill it, which I’m proud of. And then came the real question: How do you build the dream team? How do you recruit and develop the right talent, and how do you build a strong performance culture? That’s where I leaned into my pharma experience, building a pipeline of talent, field force effectiveness models, and creating alignment through our cultural values: care, courage, and collaboration. The key to success is blending the right talent with the right leaders.
Third: instrument set management for surgical workflows. That was new to me. Mobilizing instruments, managing robotics, and optimizing equipment - this was a learning curve. But we applied logic and Six Sigma methodology to drive efficiencies. Within a year, I was confident. We streamlined portfolio planning, optimized toolkits, and introduced a new structure to instrument management. I want to reiterate that none of that would’ve worked without a solid team, which I’m lucky to have.
EF: What KPIs matter most to you, both from a business and people perspective?
SH: Of course, we track all the standard KPIs, sales growth, market share, talent metrics, diversity, but if you ask me personally, the one that matters most is patient impact.
I always ask: How many patients did we support this quarter? How many knee replacements did we enable? How many mothers received speed recovery after C-sections? That’s the real measure of access, and it’s tied directly to our mission.
I have a background in pharmaceutical sciences, and I’ve always been fascinated by the human side of healthcare, including the interplay between hope and fear, how patients approach treatment, and how doctors engage. So when I sit down with my teams to review business performance, I want to hear about patient journeys, not just revenue. That’s where you see the real return on investment, in the lives changed.
EF: Thinking about the future workforce, AI, robotics, and generational change, what kind of people does Smith+Nephew need to hire today for tomorrow’s MedTech?
SH: We need to recognize that MedTech has two very distinct types of talent.
First, there are the technical experts, the clinical support staff, the surgical service teams, and the wound care specialists. These are people whom AI will never replace. Getting a knee into a human body is not a digital task; it’s human, tactile, and complex. These roles will always require well-trained professionals with a background in health sciences.
Then there are the tech-savvy professionals, the ones who can leverage AI, data analytics, robotics, and digital platforms to enhance outcomes. These roles will evolve quickly. In fact, a third of my current leadership team is already engaged with new technologies and driving innovation. And our junior teams? They’re already there. They’re coming in with the mindset, the skills, and the agility to thrive in a tech-driven world.
We’re already seeing it with our CORI robotic system, which revolutionized knee surgery through 3D planning and improved recovery times. One-day discharge is becoming a reality. We are now awaiting FDA approval for another groundbreaking technology in sports medicine that will integrate live navigation into surgical procedures. The future is here.
EF: Finally, when thinking about healthcare financing in the region, what trends do you see emerging?
SH: I think we’re heading toward a profound shift in how care is funded, from product-based to indication-based tenders.
Across the Gulf, we’re already seeing early signs. Governments are considering models in which public sector patients are treated in private facilities and then reimbursed. Over time, I think tenders will be issued not for units or devices, but for managing entire patient populations. For example: “if a Medtech company is to manage 5,000 knee replacements this year. What’s your model, bidding cost & medium to accountabilities towards those patients?”
To achieve this, we’ll need patient registries, real data, and strong collaboration between the public and private sectors. But I believe this is coming. And I would like to believe that we intend to be ahead of the curve. We’re already in early conversations in some countries, and I think you’ll hear more soon. It’s about building win-win partnerships that deliver real access while easing pressure on government budgets.
