Malaysia-made medical implants to enter Japan hospitals

MALAYSIAN-made medical implants are set to make their way to Japanese hospitals by the end of this month, and China is the next market being eyed for the product by its maker.

American medical device maker Symmetry Medical Inc announced yesterday that its facility in Penang has shipped a full production order of Class 3 medical hip implants to the Japanese market.

No monetary value nor shipment units were revealed by the company, which is shipping the items for its long-time customer called Japan Medical Materials Corp (JMM).

JMM is Japan's biggest medical device company that develops, manufactures and sells artificial joints, dental implants and other medical materials and medical equipment.

"The manufacture and shipment of Japanese Class 3 medical implants from our Penang facility marks a great achievement for Symmetry and Malaysia," Symmetry Medical's president and chief executive officer Brian Moore told a press conference in Penang.

Also present was JMM's president Hideaki Okimatsu.

Moore said apart from the forging (a metal part worked to a predetermined shape) which is imported from the US for the hip implant, other components for the product are sourced locally.

"The shipment of sterilised and packaged implants from an independent provider," he said, "requires a high level of quality and regulatory control and is relatively new within the Asia-Pacific region".

"This order for JMM demonstrates that Symmetry has the experience, manufacturing controls and expertise to bring this additional level of services to our original equipment customers in the region," he added.

"Asia Pacific," Moore said, "is one of the fastest growing orthopedic markets and Symmetry is well-positioned to help our customers meet this demand.

"We continue to make strategic investments in our Malaysian operations, and inclusive of these expansion plans, we expect our Malaysian capacity to become increasingly dedicated to serving its local markets," he added.

Meanwhile, Okimatsu said the products shipped from Malaysia will be supplied to 2,000 hospitals in Japan.

"We are eyeing the China market by 2011 for these Malaysian-made implants," he added.

Symmetry Medical's investment presence in Penang dates back to 2006.

The company occupies a 50,000 sq ft facility in the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone, where it designs implants, instruments and sterilisation cases for markets in Asia, Europe and the US.