Health tech pays as Kiwi firm enters billion-dollar Chinese market – Computerworld

TruScreen, a New Zealand company providing real time cervical cancer screening technology, now has open access to a potential NZ$1 billion per annum market after receiving Chinese Food And Drug Administration (CFDA) approval to market their device in China.

According to the Kiwi business, this approval and accreditation represents a “watershed moment” in the evolution of the company.

TruScreen’s cervical cancer technology utilises a digital wand which is touched on the surface of the cervix to measure electrical and optical signals from the surrounding tissue to identify precancerous change, or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN).

Tompany’s revolutionary technology, which took scientists over 15 years to develop, will now be immediately available to Chinese women following a series of successful trial and marketing programmes.

“The Chinese market represents a very significant commercial opportunity for the company,” says Martin Dillon, CEO, TruScreen.

“With 388 million women aged 25-60, China is probably the world’s largest market for cervical screening worth an estimated $1 billion per annum.

“There is currently no national programme in place in China, and with an increasing focus on women’s health we are well positioned to strengthen our existing presence there.

“Large scale trial programmes conducted by the company in several key hospitals in China was a key factor in securing the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) approval.”

Dillon says clinical and familiarisation trials using the TruScreen device involved testing thousands of women in China.

“The positive feedback about the device’s efficacy helped us secure not only the CFDA approval but also contracts with some of the country’s largest medical distributors,” he adds.

“We have signed contracts with three key distributors in China who between them cover all customer segments. Our distributors have a combined national sales force of more than 3,000 medical professionals – which provides some idea of the scale and potential of the market.”

In addition, Dillon says TruScreen has established distribution contracts in 11 international markets, including Latin America, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.