Global Endoscopy Giant: Manufacturing R&D Center Established in Shanghai

Source: House of Devices, unauthorized reproduction is not allowed and may not be reproduced until 24 hours later.

On July 10, PENTAX Medical (hereinafter referred to as "PENTAX Medical"), a subsidiary of HOYA Group, announced the establishment of an endoscope production, R&D and service center in Shanghai, China, specifically for the Chinese market, which is subordinate to PENTAX Medical Devices (Shanghai) Co.

It is reported that the production base will produce PENTAX Medical endoscopic solutions for the Chinese market. The service center will enhance the customer experience through excellent customer care and rapid problem solving.

Maha Guruswamy, President of Pentax Medical Asia Pacific, said: "Pentax Medical is pleased to contribute to the 'Healthy China' program by manufacturing high-tech medical devices locally. This is a great milestone in Pentax Medical's history as it adds a large local facility in China to manufacture, deliver and service innovative endoscopic solutions for healthcare organizations in China. This will accelerate the delivery of Pentax Medical's innovative endoscopic solutions and support the improvement of healthcare quality in China like never before."

Rainer Burkard, Global President of Pentax Medical and President of Medical Technology and Life Sciences at HOYA Corporation, commented, "We at PENTAX Medical care about providing the best possible support to healthcare professionals. We have established R&D centers in Japan, USA and Germany to incorporate customer input into our R&D activities. The establishment of this center will enable closer interaction between clinical stakeholders and our R&D department in China."

Pentax

One of the world's top three soft lens companies

Pentax is a Japanese company with more than 100 years of history and is one of the world's three leading manufacturers of flexible endoscopes. As a subsidiary of HOYA Corporation, it specializes in providing endoscopic products used for diagnosis and treatment in specialties such as gastroenterology, otorhinolaryngology and respiratory medicine. Pentax Medical has local organizations in many regions around the world that include research and development, sales, and after-sales service.

Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1970, Pentax Medical began globalization in 1977 with the opening of subsidiaries in Europe and the United States, with R&D, innovation and manufacturing centers in Japan, Europe and the United States.

Pentax Medical entered the endoscopy market in 1977 developing the first bronchial fiberoptic scope, the FB-17A. 1988 saw the development of the world's first videobronchoscope. 2005 saw the launch of the world's first autofluorescence video processor, the SAFE-3000, and the videobronchial oscilloscope, the EB-1970AK.

In 2008, Pentax Medical was acquired by the TAG Heuer Group. 2011, TAG Heuer Group split and sold Pentax Medical's digital camera and telescope businesses to Ricoh, retaining the core businesses of endoscopy and artificial bone, and sharing the Pentax trademark.

In 2011, Pentax Medical (Shanghai) Co. In 2017, Pentax Medical and Shanghai Aohua Optoelectronic Endoscopy Co. established a joint venture to develop products in the field of flexible medical endoscopy.

It is worth mentioning that in March this year, the groundbreaking ceremony of Pentax Medical Devices' One Free Trade R&D factory was successfully held in Waigaoqiao, Pudong New Area. Mr. Guan Li, General Manager of Pentax Medical Devices China, said, "This project is the first factory constructed by Pentax Medical Devices outside of Japan, which is of milestone significance. The R&D plant will definitely enhance Pentax Medical's overall competitiveness in the Chinese market, provide Chinese customers with innovative endoscopic products and services of better quality and close to the national conditions, better serve various medical institutions in China, and enhance patient satisfaction."

Currently, Pentax Medical's products cover a wide range of fields such as digestive, respiratory, ear, nose and throat.

As the second largest medical device market in the world, China's medical device industry is full of imagination in the future. As one of the hottest tracks nowadays, endoscopy has ushered in rapid development in recent years, with increasing clinical demand, further expansion of the market scale, and broad development prospects. So what kind of development and change will be ushered in the domestic endoscopy market in the future after Pentax Medical has set up its production and R&D center in Shanghai will be worth the industry's attention. We sincerely hope that domestic endoscopes can catch up with foreign brands and rise up!