Taiwan-made dental implants competitive

Central News Agency  2011-11-15 Taipei, Nov. 15 (CNA) Taiwan's first dental implant maker, which won a national product award earlier this month, has a competitive advantage in price because of lower costs compared with imported products, a director of the company said Tuesday. The cost of locally made products is half of imported ones, which gives them more competitiveness in the global market, said Liu Ching-chieh, research and development director of Hung Chun Bio-S . Co. said. The firm, which began life as a screw manufacturer, won the eighth National Innovation Award presented by the Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry Nov. 7. The company spent four years and nearly NT$300 million (US$9.9 million) to become a player in the industry, Liu said. The Kaohsiung-based manufacturer now has a nearly 5 percent market share in Taiwan since it entered the market a year ago, where about 250,000 dental implants are used every year. Before the company was able to mass produce its implants, it had to acquire certification from the Department of Health following years of research in collaboration with Taipei Medical University. Taiwan reported a 17 percent-20 percent annual growth in the number of implants used over the past decade, compared with a 25 percent increase in the emerging market in Aisa overall, according to Liu.