Kyocera Expands U.S. Ortho Presence With Renovis Purchase

Japan-based Kyocera Corporation has announced that its U.S. headquarters, Kyocera International, Inc., has agreed to purchase the major assets of Renovis Surgical Technologies, Inc. that relate to artificial joint and spinal products. Renovis is a U.S.-based orthopedic and spinal medical device manufacturer and developer.

Kyocera manufactures medical products that are primarily for the Japanese market. Renovis is a market leader in 3D-printed implants with a broad portfolio of products in the U.S. market. The purchased assets will be transferred into a new California-based company that will be wholly owned by Kyocera International, called Kyocera Medical Technologies, Inc.

Kyocera’s purchase of Renovis’ assets will allow it to expand into the U.S. orthopedic implant market, which totals approximately $20 billion.

OTW spoke with Yoshio Kojima, General Manager of Kyocera Corporation’s Medical Division. He explained what prompted the asset purchase. “For more than 40 years, Kyocera’s medical business has focused on the Japanese market, where we’ve become a leading manufacturer and supplier of orthopedic implants.”

“We were recognized last year by Japan’s Ministry of the Economy, Trade and Industry for product innovations that create longer-lasting, more durable implants. This asset purchase provides new resources for Kyocera to leverage our success beyond Japan and build a substantial presence in the U.S.—the world’s largest market for orthopedic implants.”

Kojima continued, “It brings Kyocera all of the intellectual property and process capabilities that have won renown for Renovis Surgical within the U.S. orthopedic surgery community over the past 10 years. Additionally, it brings Kyocera a new product line in spinal components and adds strategic elements to our orthopedic hip implant line. Specifically, it gives us Tesera Trabecular Technology^TM, which has received interest among surgeons seeking implants with superior initial stability and long-term bone fixation.”

“Consequently, we believe the assets purchased from Renovis Surgical will support Kyocera’s vision to double our global sales of medical products, to about $370 million, within five years.”