Page 26 - THE SOUTH CHINA BUSINESS JOURNAL
P. 26
mmunity News
Scott says... The Greater Bay Area's - and in particular, Shenzhen’s
- prowess in life sciences manufacturing and
We have developed our portfolio of products under development must also be attributed to the decades of
the brand ‘iTool’. This is a very exciting development for experience and expertise gained from acting as OEM/
Apex and we have most recently signed a distribution ODM to global companies, in line with China’s overall
agreement with a well-established UK company for our positioning as the world’s factory floor. One of the clearest
latest product, the Apex Advanced Wound Irrigation indications of this can be seen in the fact that Phillips
System product, for global distribution. and Siemens have significant manufacturing operations
in Shenzhen - and in fact, these global giants all entered
I am personally very excited about this product Shenzhen through the acquisition of local companies.
because it was specifically designed for very difficult-
to-heal wounds like pressure ulcer, diabetic foot ulcer, However, emerging from the proliferation of run-of-
leg ulcer, and it is also very cost-effective solution. For the-mill color Doppler ultrasound machines and various
instance, elderly or bedridden people often develop diagnostic platforms companies content to simply capture
pressure ulcers, which this product can relieve. Diabetic the low-hanging fruits of the booming domestic Chinese
foot amputation is also a major issue. It is reported market are a few frontrunners determined to develop truly
globally that every 40 seconds, a diabetic foot ulcer innovative products.
patient has a certain grade of foot amputation and over
50 percent of these patients with foot amputation will Scott Liang, President of Apex (Guangzhou) Tools and
die in fewer than five years! This product can save many Orthopaedics, which is a member of US-based Colson
people’s lives. Associates, is well-positioned to offer an incisive and
balanced perspective. He muses, “IP is a global issue. Even
This is a product that we have designed completely within Silicon Valley, we can see that many of the tech
in-house, so it is another milestone for us. R&D is a very companies like Apple often have conflict over IP rights
important aspect of our company as well and to date, we with their peers, and the same is true with American
have over 20 patents. This year alone, we have applied pharma and medical devices companies.” He adds, "What
for six! This is a testament to how far we have come, I have noticed is that US companies use the word ‘reverse-
from starting as a medtech manufacturer to now having engineering’ for product improvement and development.
our own in-house R&D team and portfolio of products! Indeed, there is a difference between simply ‘copying’ and
‘reverse-engineering’. No one can invent something from
Currently, our company is split 50:50 between CMO nothing. The medtech industry is built on a technological
and own product lines. In a few years, we expect our base and innovation is often incremental based on the
Apex brand products to grow to 70 percent of our current state-of-the-art technology. 99.99 percent of new
business. This will be another transformation for us! We products are developed by reverse-engineering, a real
hope to become global leaders in the small niche area of disruptive invention can only be found every 20 years.
disposable hospital products, where we are present. The reality is that the US is the most innovative and
technologically advanced country in the world. Many
From countries in the world, not just China, are learning from
Imitation American technology and innovation.”
Nevertheless, Liang is sympathetic towards such
concerns. "Apex has had our own products copied by other
Chinese companies so I understand the frustration. At
Apex, we do everything legally. We have in fact invested
a lot of money and time in learning and acquiring new
technologies. This is how we have been able to enter the
US market ourselves and manufacture for US companies,
who would not work with us if they would be worried
about their IP being taken."■
to Innovation Written by Karen Xi, Project Editor, Focus
Reports. This article is based on interviews
conducted by PharmaBoardroom.com for
the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater
Bay Healthcare and Life Sciences Review
2018. For the full report, please visit www.
pharmaboardroom.com.
24 AmCham South China
Scott says... The Greater Bay Area's - and in particular, Shenzhen’s
- prowess in life sciences manufacturing and
We have developed our portfolio of products under development must also be attributed to the decades of
the brand ‘iTool’. This is a very exciting development for experience and expertise gained from acting as OEM/
Apex and we have most recently signed a distribution ODM to global companies, in line with China’s overall
agreement with a well-established UK company for our positioning as the world’s factory floor. One of the clearest
latest product, the Apex Advanced Wound Irrigation indications of this can be seen in the fact that Phillips
System product, for global distribution. and Siemens have significant manufacturing operations
in Shenzhen - and in fact, these global giants all entered
I am personally very excited about this product Shenzhen through the acquisition of local companies.
because it was specifically designed for very difficult-
to-heal wounds like pressure ulcer, diabetic foot ulcer, However, emerging from the proliferation of run-of-
leg ulcer, and it is also very cost-effective solution. For the-mill color Doppler ultrasound machines and various
instance, elderly or bedridden people often develop diagnostic platforms companies content to simply capture
pressure ulcers, which this product can relieve. Diabetic the low-hanging fruits of the booming domestic Chinese
foot amputation is also a major issue. It is reported market are a few frontrunners determined to develop truly
globally that every 40 seconds, a diabetic foot ulcer innovative products.
patient has a certain grade of foot amputation and over
50 percent of these patients with foot amputation will Scott Liang, President of Apex (Guangzhou) Tools and
die in fewer than five years! This product can save many Orthopaedics, which is a member of US-based Colson
people’s lives. Associates, is well-positioned to offer an incisive and
balanced perspective. He muses, “IP is a global issue. Even
This is a product that we have designed completely within Silicon Valley, we can see that many of the tech
in-house, so it is another milestone for us. R&D is a very companies like Apple often have conflict over IP rights
important aspect of our company as well and to date, we with their peers, and the same is true with American
have over 20 patents. This year alone, we have applied pharma and medical devices companies.” He adds, "What
for six! This is a testament to how far we have come, I have noticed is that US companies use the word ‘reverse-
from starting as a medtech manufacturer to now having engineering’ for product improvement and development.
our own in-house R&D team and portfolio of products! Indeed, there is a difference between simply ‘copying’ and
‘reverse-engineering’. No one can invent something from
Currently, our company is split 50:50 between CMO nothing. The medtech industry is built on a technological
and own product lines. In a few years, we expect our base and innovation is often incremental based on the
Apex brand products to grow to 70 percent of our current state-of-the-art technology. 99.99 percent of new
business. This will be another transformation for us! We products are developed by reverse-engineering, a real
hope to become global leaders in the small niche area of disruptive invention can only be found every 20 years.
disposable hospital products, where we are present. The reality is that the US is the most innovative and
technologically advanced country in the world. Many
From countries in the world, not just China, are learning from
Imitation American technology and innovation.”
Nevertheless, Liang is sympathetic towards such
concerns. "Apex has had our own products copied by other
Chinese companies so I understand the frustration. At
Apex, we do everything legally. We have in fact invested
a lot of money and time in learning and acquiring new
technologies. This is how we have been able to enter the
US market ourselves and manufacture for US companies,
who would not work with us if they would be worried
about their IP being taken."■
to Innovation Written by Karen Xi, Project Editor, Focus
Reports. This article is based on interviews
conducted by PharmaBoardroom.com for
the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater
Bay Healthcare and Life Sciences Review
2018. For the full report, please visit www.
pharmaboardroom.com.
24 AmCham South China
