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An Urgent Case of Making Neurovascular Disease Treatment Accessible

Corporate Communications
Neurovascular

One of the recent developments that we have been focusing on is on neurovascular interventions. And there are certainly many good reasons to do so.

Each year, there are approximately 13.7 million strokes worldwide. Globally, 1 in every 4 people will develop a stroke in their lifetime.

To further put this into perspective, 25% of people over the age of 25 will experience stroke at some point of time in their lives. As you read this article, for every 6 seconds, 1 life is lost to stroke somewhere out there. The numbers and strike-rate are staggering.

Of all stroke cases, 85% are usually ischemic. This is most commonly caused by a blockage, limiting blood supply to the brain. 46% of ischemic strokes are caused by large vessel occlusion, a major large artery in the brain. This makes ischemic stroke highly dangerous as it can take lives suddenly and quietly, usually within minutes.

What this means - in stroke care, time is of the essence; rapid treatment is critical to saving lives and  limiting any resulting disabilities.

This urgency for life-saving advances in stroke has seen us grow our portfolio of solutions within the  neurovascular space rapidly in this year. We are accelerating entry of cost-effective ischemic stroke therapy products in the emerging markets through our latest acquisition of Minitech Co., Ltd., a leading Chinese enterprise in the stent retriever industry. Compared to imported brands of similar quality, Minitech’s high-value product portfolio will bring greater economic and healthcare benefits to a wider pool of patients and practitioners alike:
 

  • Stent Retriever - RECO® is the first local stent retriever approved by the NMPA. It is the only local stent retriever with more than 10,000 implants in the past 2 years (as of mid-2020).
     
  • Microcatheter - Notable for its high placement accuracy, our microcatheter’s wide range of tube diameters and lengths for different vessel sizes make it suitable for a wide range of anatomies.


Our geographical focus is on emerging markets within the Asia Pacific region. The numbers tell why.

“Globally, 70% of strokes and 87% of both stroke-related deaths and disability-adjusted life years occur in low- and middle-income countries.Over the last four decades, the stroke incidence in low- and middle-income countries has more than doubled. During these decades stroke incidence has declined by 42% in high-income countries. On average, stroke occurs 15 years earlier in – and causes more deaths of – people living in low- and middle-income countries, when compared to those in high-income countries.”

                                           
An excerpt from WHO’s editorial, “Stroke: a global response is needed”

 

The impetus to make stroke-care technology readily available and accessible to patients within emerging markets is tremendous. Together, let’s change the trajectory of stroke.

Stay tuned for upcoming activities as we strive to bring healthcare innovation to those who need it most.

 

 

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