Sysmex Corp. will increase its diagnostic reagent supply in the United States in order to meet the increasing demand for diagnostic reagents that will result from an increasing share of the U.S. market.
Sysmex will invest US$12 million in constructing a new diagnostic reagent production base; this production capacity will be twice as much as the current one.
Operation of the new factory is scheduled to begin in April 2007.
The company will strive to establish the Sysmex brand by building bonds of trust and reliance with its customers, by means of the improved sales and service system and the enhanced reagent supply system. The current California production facility will be closed in June 2008.
The size of the global diagnostics market is estimated at $26 billion; the U.S. market, the world's largest, accounts for 40% of this. In the United States, medical institutions are required to boost efficiency to cope with rising medical expenses and the perpetual shortage of qualified medical personnel including clinical laboratory technicians. Leading manufacturers, particularly in the hematology field of the diagnostic market, therefore locate their head offices in the United States and maintain the strength of their brands in the U.S. market.
Under these circumstances, with the aim of further business expansion in the U.S., Sysmex has shifted from indirect sales through a contract with the Roche Diagnostics Corp. to its direct sales and service system by Sysmex America, Inc., the U.S. headquarters for Sysmex Corp. The company is striving to expand its marketing activity not only in large hospitals but also in leading reference laboratories - which account for approximately 30% of the U.S. diagnostics market - and the small and medium hospital market.
Sysmex has endeavored to promote the penetration of the Sysmex brand in the U.S. market by improving customer service with its enhanced service network, which consists mainly of call centers, as well as through academic support activities throughout the United States.
The company will construct a new reagent factory of Sysmex Reagents America, Inc., in Illinois. The new factory will adjoin Sysmex America, Inc., the U.S. headquarters for Sysmex Corp., and is scheduled to begin operation in April 2007.
(c) 2005 Biotech Week via NewsRx.com
