Kyocera, whose founder Kazuo Inamori built one of the world’s foremost material sciences companies with a ‘yes, we can’ engineering philosophy, is (unbeknownst to most U.S. orthopedic surgeons) one of Japan’s leading orthopedic implant suppliers.
The company supplies innovative yet affordable large joint, trauma and extremity implants—and courtesy of a 2019 asset purchase from U.S. spinal implant company Renovis, spinal implants too.
In its 2019 annual report, Kyocera announced that entering the U.S. orthopedics market was a top strategic priority.
We spent two days at Kyocera, listening to senior managers and checking out the U.S. product portfolio. We were “wow-ed” and we think you will be too. U.S. surgeons, we believe, are in for a real treat in 2020.
Material Sciences in Orthopedics
Our industry, of course, relies on material sciences to deliver ever-improving patient outcomes.
Charnley’s “eureka” moment, for example, was courtesy of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene. Later, titanium replaced stainless steel. Ceramics extended longevity of articulating components. Hydroxyapatite, bioglass and other biologically active materials improved the implant bone interface. Porous metals and ceramics took osseointegration to the next level.
Today, powdered titanium is fueling the 3D-printed implant revolution.
In the world of material sciences, Kyocera is the company to get to know.
Kyocera’s Journey to Medicine and, Specifically, Orthopedics
Kyocera built its reputation in the engineered ceramics and the legendarily brutal semiconductor components businesses.
Kyocera founder Kazuo Inamori was the first in Japan to synthesize forsterite, which he used to create a unique “kelcima” insulator in early television picture tubes. His “yes, we can” engineering philosophy fueled a steady stream of advanced technology ceramic components for, first, the exploding television market and then, in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, the massive electronics, computer and integrated circuit chip industries.
Kyocera’s ceramics were part of NASA’s space programs from Apollo to the Mars Rovers. Kyocera was the first company to tackle the impossible problem of building a portable, battery powered computer (the legendary TANDY Model 100 notebook PC). The company Inamori built became part of virtually every iteration of the integrated circuit chip since 1969—and semiconductor components remain among Kyocera’s core businesses today.
You likely have Kyocera’s ceramics in your smartphone.
(Of course, having grown up in the semiconductor industry, Kyocera knows more than little bit about pricing pressures).
Inert, biocompatible and durable, ceramics are a natural material for orthopedic implants. Kyocera, with roughly 10,000 patents in ceramics science and other technologies, is an equally natural supplier to the orthopedic industry.
Kyocera’s first medical device was a ceramic dental implant launched in 1978—in Japan.
Hip, knee, shoulder and other implants followed—all with advanced material technologies, and virtually all in Japan.
In 2004 Kyocera teamed with Kobe Steel to create new medical device synergies. Two years ago, Kyocera bought out Kobe’s share and pulled the enterprise into Kyocera proper.
Four decades on, Kyocera has become a leading supplier of orthopedic implants in Japan. Remarkably, U.S. surgeons are largely unaware of Kyocera’s truly unique orthopedic implants.
In March 2019, as part of the priority to build a presence in the U.S., Kyocera bought the assets of Redlands, California-based Renovis Surgical Technologies, a manufacturer and supplier of orthopedic implants.
It is worth noting that Kyocera’s “succeed-first-in-Japan, then-come-to-the-U.S.” approach is a path many other Japanese companies have followed. Toyota in cars, Panasonic in electronics and Nintendo—located just down the street from Kyocera in Kyoto—to name three great success stories.
