Align Technology's Invisalign system is now commercially available in China, and the company is already training orthodontists based in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou.
In October 2010, Align received regulatory approval from the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) to market and sell the Invisalign system as a class II medical device for the treatment of malocclusion. China is estimated to have nearly half a million new orthodontic case starts each year, with a higher percentage of complex class II and III malocclusion cases than in Western countries, the company noted.
In conjunction with the recent international launch of Invisalign G3, Align accelerated commercial availability of Invisalign in China from the second half of 2011. In anticipation of this launch, Align has been building its presence in China and has established its office in Shanghai, which includes country management, sales, marketing, clinical education, and support.
In April, as a precurser to the commercial launch, Peking University hosted a two-day clinical symposium on Invisalign treatment. The Science in Every Smile symposium featured clinical lectures by Invisalign practitioners from around the world and was attended by more than 340 orthodontists from across China, including faculty, private practitioners, and 95% of the country's orthodontic department chairpersons, according to Align.
