At a time when NPPA has brought price regulation for the coronary stents in India, Shanghai – based MicroPort Scientific Corporation, a global medical technology company that recently launched its latest third generation Target Eluting Stent, is positive that it will be able to serve the Indian coronary stent market under new price regime with its best –in-class technology due to its operational efficiency. Talking about the newly-launched stent, Riyaz Desai, MD- India, elucidates to Express Healthcare about the opportunities envisaged by the Chinese medical device company in India
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has implemented new price regulations for coronary stents. Do you think the move will give you enough room to make a decent margin?
We understand the decision taken by the Government of India to ensure quality healthcare access to every Indian at affordable prices. At MicroPort, we appreciate the endeavour of the Government of India and we hope that we can work shoulder to shoulder to make best in class medical solutions available to Indian population at affordable prices. However, we strongly feel that Government of India should consider reasonable margins to the entire value chain so that new and latest technologies can be made available to Indian population as and when these are introduced worldwide. Indian patients deserve the very best and Government of India must implement the policies which are both patient and industry friendly.
Unlike many other companies in the same industry, we are well poised to build our Indian operation keeping in mind the new price regulation. We will build the lean and efficient business model in India without compromising on the quality of service.
Can you share some details about the FireHawk stent? How different is it from other premium stents?
Firehawk is one of the most innovative third-generation coronary stent. We term it as rapamycin Target Eluting Stent because this is a stent which is designed to release the drug only to the targeted cells. The drug is released in 90 days and the polymer which is outside in specific areas of the stent is fully absorbed in nine months.
Firehawk features cutting-edge technology like ultra-micro 3D printing and abluminal (the side which touches the artery) groove filled design and it is proved to be a major success in patients with coronary diseases. The stent containing the drug and the polymer in the micro grooves helps achieve the same clinical efficacy as other market-leading drug-eluting stent with approximately only 1/2 dosage of the drug and approximately one third of the polymer load. It also minimises vessel wall inflammation through a reduction in the spatial and temporal interaction between polymer, drug and vessel wall.
Chinese products are always looked as inferior in India. How will you combat this fear?
Throughout the world, there is a stereotypical mentality that the Chinese manufactured devices are of low quality. However, in MicroPort, we assure the technology provided is the best-in-class and we have clinical evidence to prove that Firehawk is the best-in -class stent globally at par with other stents made by Abbott, Boston Scientific & Medtronic. This is proven based on various clinical trials.
MicroPort is 18 year old and we launched our first stent in 2004, since then it has been the number one market share leader in the coronary stent market in China. Today, China is the second-largest stent market in the world and growing.
The medical devices industry’s safety and quality guidelines in every country are rigid and our products are present in 25 countries. Besides, implanting so many devices in people around the globe itself shows that it is a product of high quality meeting the efficacy and safety norms of many countries. The idea that all China-made products are of inferior quality is beginning to change.
We have also seen similar phenomenon in many consumer products like the mobile handset industry. Most of the smartphones used in India are of Chinese origin and many big Western brands are leveraging China’s ability to manufacture high quality products. Today China is India’s biggest trade partner with approximately 20 per cent of the imports by India is from China. Chinese exports to India rely heavily on manufactured items to meet the demand of fast expanding sectors like telecom and power.
Stents have huge developmental cost and it is not a typical generic product. How much importance do you give to R&D?
MicroPort is driven by innovation and it is one of the few medical devices companies which spend high on the R&D. We invest 18 per cent of our revenue back in R&D. Today, we have 1805 applied patents and 1169 applied trademarks. There are over 100 on-going projects in R&D. Today, 5000-plus hospitals are using our technologies worldwide. Every 15 seconds, MicroPort products are deployed in some patient somewhere around the world.
MicroPort Products are of highest standards
Throughout the world, ‘Made-in-China’ still brings to mind phrases like ‘not built to last.’ In reality, China is the manufacturing base of the world. Virtually all luxury brands get a significant percentage of their product lines produced in China. However, the fact is that many companies and organisations are utilising Chinese manufactured goods to save expenditures, increase production and benefit in many other ways.
There is a stereotype mentality that the products manufactured by Chinese companies are of low quality. However, we need to understand that low quality products can be manufactured and sold only in the product segment which is not regulated because their usage does not pose any threat to human life. Also, since there is a market for such products in developing countries, China has been catering to this segment.
This is not true at all when it comes to the medical device industry since understandably any compromise in the quality will have an adverse effect on the human life. In every country, the safety and quality guidelines for medical devices are rigid because it involves human life. Our products have met the benchmark of efficacy and safety, set by different countries and are approved and available for sale in more than 25 countries worldwide. More than 3.5 million stents of MicroPort have been implanted in more than 1.5 million patients worldwide. This in itself is a testimony of efficacy and safety of our products.
Not only that our stents have been proved safe and efficacious in clinical practice, but our FireHawk has been proven to be both safe and efficacious based on various clinical studies in more than 18000 patients and clinicians would agree with us that very few stents can claim this honour.
We would like to assure each and every patient of India that products manufactured by MicroPort are of the highest standards and can meet the benchmark of safety and efficacy set by any country in the world.
How do you see MicroPort’s growth in the Indian medical devices market?
We, as a company, see tremendous growth in the Indian medical devices market. Today, the US is number one coronary stent market followed by China, Europe and India but the market in US and Europe are either stagnant or declining. However, the coronary stent market in China and India are believed to growing at the rate of 14-15 per cent annually. It is believed that five years from now, top two coronary stent markets in the world would be China and India. As India is an emerging market, we want to introduce all our technologies in India, be it interventional cardiology, endovascular, orthopaedics or neuro vascular devices. Our next product line to be launched in India would be hip and joint implants.
In China MicroPort is enjoying market leading position for more than a decade, in India too we would have substantial presence. What it means for us in the future is that MicroPort would have leading position in World’s leading angioplasty markets, i. e. China and India.
Do you think expiry date is a must for stents?
Yes, there should be an expiry date for stents. Firehawk has two years’ shelf life which is more than sufficient for the stent.
How do you see the recent Medical Devices Rule and other steps taken by the government in regards with the medical devices?
The dedicated medical device rules and regulations will definitely help the industry get faster approvals leading to faster access of cutting-edge technologies for Indian patients. In our view, the Indian government should not only focus to provide universal health coverage but also focus on delivering high quality healthcare to all the classes. MicroPort is well poised in aligning with the government of India as well as health care professionals in delivering the best in class technologies at affordable prices, which will have a profound impact on Indian patient outcomes.
It is not just about being able to access a range of innovative products with a proven track record like our breakthrough stent Firehawk to treat coronary artery disease but also Indian healthcare can leverage on MicroPort’s vast experience in R&D in bringing high-quality medical technologies at affordable prices. We are here not only at an opportune time, but I genuinely feel that Indian medical ecosystem is maturing and forcing manufacturers to provide the best in class medical care at affordable prices. At MicroPort, we are positioned well to offer our best in class medical technologies to the Indian patients and we are proud to be a part of history in making as far as patient care in India is concerned.