Surat, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, is typically known for the diamond cutting business. The inventor of a laser cutter machine in the 1980s that was widely adopted by local gem cutters, decided to modify the technology to cut metal tubes to make coronary stents. This expertise in manufacturing coronary stents is creating competition for industry leaders such as Abbott Laboratories and Medtronic Plc., reports Bloomberg Business.
Sahajanand Medical Technologies has partnered with Meril Life Sciences and together they are the biggest Indian stent maker selling drug-coated stents approved in the European Union. The Indian list price of Meril’s most advanced drug-coated stent is 38 percent lower than Abbott’s newest available product, according to Sinocare Surgicals Pvt., a distributor.
Sahajanand sells stents in 40 countries, including Spain, Brazil and the U.K., and is negotiating with distribution partners in France and Germany, CEO Ganesh Sabat said. He told Bloomberg that his company plans trials to seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and aims to sell in the U.S. in 2019 — even though the additional studies required may increase costs substantially
India is a growth market, with nearly 310,000 stent implantations in 2014, compared to the 1.1 million in the United States.
