Agreement with Marconi leads to marketing of affordable lithotripter intended to make stone blasting available in USA
Norland Medical Systems has announced the signing of an agreement with the Health Care Products division of Marconi Medical Systems to exclusively distribute in the USA and Canada the Genestone 190, a novel lithotripter that recently received PMA market clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration.
Commenting on the alliance, Reynald Bonmati, chairman and chief executive officer, stated, "I previously announced a product diversification programme as part of Norland's plan to develop into a broader medical device business during the new millennium.
The first step was taken last year in two segments of the muscoloskeletal market with the launch of the Galileo line of patented exercise systems for sports medicine and physical therapy.
Our patented Galileo exercise systems are now routinely used by several centres, including the Rusk Institute for Rehabilitative Medicine at New York University.
With the introduction of the Genestone 190, we are addressing a different market altogether: the urology market.
In keeping with Norland's tradition of being the most cost effective provider of medical devices in its field, we have priced the Genestone 190 below $200,000 which makes it the most affordable lithotripter of its kind available in the USA today.
The USA is lagging behind other developed countries regarding access to lithotripsy, mainly due to poor price/performance ratio of existing systems that have put them out of reach of community hospitals.
This situation provides Norland with the dual opportunity of expanding this market while also addressing the replacement market as the first generation systems in operation have become increasingly more expensive to maintain."
