Business Tour 2

Abbott Medical Optics
Business Tour: Abbott Medical Optics

Abbot Medical Optics: CATALYS Precision Laser System

In the Santa Ana California offices of Abbott Medical Optics (AMO), I met with Program Manager, Simanta Patel who offered a background in the medical optics business as AMO operates globally and more specifically in South East Asia and China. Among the three main product divisions at AMO, Simanta focuses on developing products within the Cataract Insertion Systems and Lens replacement market. Her role as program manager is to assemble a team of marketing, engineering, quality assurance and clinical specialists to perform a market analysis and put together a plan of how to launch a new product into a new market.

Simanta explained that her job has its challenges that include staying on top of new regulatory requirements that have a tendency to emerge as the market or government becomes more aware of ways to keep track of organizations seeking to do business within their borders. For instance, as of October 1, 2014 China released new regulatory requirements that will require a complete clinical study. The cost, at nearly $200k and time frame, possibly 2 years or more, in which the clinical study will have to take place may not be cost effective afterward and therefore a business case must be analyzed and presented and may ultimately render the new product launch impossible leading to cancellation of the product.

Simanta further added that AMO has a goal to build an internal infrastructure of setting up clinical studies using partners and specialists within China and other Asian nations as they move ahead in this market. They already have full sales staff located remotely in India and Japan and plan to continue to build up their team in China. Malaysia will be the next location for building a lens manufacturing facility that will be aimed at supporting the aging demographic that will soon be needing cataract lens replacement in the coming decade.

The insight Simanta offered into how AMO analyses a market and creates a plan to launch a product was enlightening as she defined realistically potential barriers to operating abroad. With the growth that has become very apparent, it is clear that businesses like Abbott Medical Optics believe that Southeast Asia and China are relevant markets worth the hard work.