PENTAX Medical and Aohua Establish Flexible Medical Endoscopy Joint Venture

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Jul 06, 2017, 22:00 ET

TOKYO and SHANGHAI, July 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On July the 7th 2017 Tokyo time, PENTAX Medical (a division of HOYA Group) and Shanghai Aohua Photoelectricity Endoscope Co., Ltd. (AOHUA) today announced the creation of a joint venture to develop products in the field of flexible medical endoscopy. The new company will offer global endoscopy solutions and will initially focus on the needs of emerging markets.

Flexible endoscopy is approximately a $2.5B market globally that is growing at an average of 5% annually. The emerging markets are a key growth driver, based on increasing population, economic growth, investments in medical institutions and infrastructure and a growing demand for minimally invasive procedures.

"We are excited to establish this collaboration with AOHUA that further advances our mission to improve the standard of patient care and quality of healthcare around the world," said David Woods, Chief Marketing Officer of PENTAX Medical, "The complementary nature of PENTAX Medical and AOHUA's capabilities will address key healthcare challenges and our two companies share a vision of delivering improved healthcare through early detection of cancer and other GI diseases in these growing markets."

"Instilling clinical confidence by delivering high performance, reliability and value to our customers is at the core of everything we do," said Gerald W. Bottero, Global President of PENTAX Medical, "Now PENTAX Medical along with AOHUA looks forward to offering endoscopy solutions in the emerging countries all over the world."

The new company, PENTAX-Aohua Medical Technologies Co., Ltd. will be headquartered in Asia and plans to develop and commercialize products beginning with key emerging markets in Asia, Latin America Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. "With PENTAX Medical as our partner, this joint venture provides AOHUA with the immediate opportunity to reach more patients throughout the world," said Dr. Xiaozhou Gu, CEO of AOHUA, "We have been committed to developing innovative technology, and our employees' hard work and dedication will enable us to continue to deliver better and affordable endoscopy solutions that improve patient care," Augustine Yee, Chief Legal Officer and Global Head of Corporate Development of HOYA Corporation commented, "This collaboration brings together combined strengths of PENTAX Medical's global infrastructure and the capabilities and knowledge of the leading endoscope company in China. We look forward to the opportunity leveraging these synergies towards the improvement of patient health globally."

About PENTAX Medical

PENTAX Medical is a division of HOYA Group. Its mission is to improve the standard of patient care and quality of healthcare delivery by providing the best endoscopic products and services with a focus on QUALITY, CLINICALLY RELEVANT INNOVATION, and SIMPLICITY. Through leading edge R&D and manufacturing, PENTAX Medical provides endoscopic imaging devices and solutions to the global medical community. Headquartered in Japan, PENTAX Medical has a worldwide focus and presence with R&D, regional sales, service, and in-country facilities around the globe. For more information, please visit: www.pentaxmedical.com.

About HOYA

Founded in 1941 in Tokyo, Japan, Hoya is a global technology and med-tech company, and a leading supplier of innovative high-tech and medical products. Hoya is active in the fields of healthcare and information technology, providing eyeglasses, medical endoscopes, intraocular lenses, optical lenses, as well as key components for semiconductor devices, LCD panels and hard disk drives. With over 150 offices and subsidiaries worldwide, Hoya currently employs a multinational workforce of 36,000 people. For more information, please visit http://www.hoya.com.

About Aohua Photoelectricity Endoscope Co., Ltd.

AOHUA, founded in 1994, is a world's leading provider of endoscopy solutions. In the past two decades, AOHUA has been committed to making the up-to-date imaging technologies and innovative features more accessible to healthcare facilities. Meanwhile, its outstanding R&D and engineering capabilities have enabled it to develop a comprehensive range of products in the field of endoscopy. Today, AOHUA offers a complete endoscopy solution, from gastrointestinal endoscopes, reprocessing systems to endoscopic accessories. With high-quality products, AOHUA has been introduced into more than 80 countries. For more information, please visit: www.aohua.com.

SOURCE HOYA Corporation PENTAX Medical