Shanghai, China – On September 6, Professor Bashir Hanif, President of Pakistan Society of Interventional Cardiology, and Professor Amber Malik, General Secretary of the society, visited Shanghai MicroPort Medical (Group) Co., Ltd ("MicroPort®"). The visit took place after the Pakistani experts attended a signing ceremony for the Sino-Pakistan "Belt and Road Interventional Cardiology Training Program", which was co-hosted by Chinese Medical Doctor Association and China Cardiovascular Association during the 20th Scientific Annual Congress of Chinese Society of Cardiology & the 12th Qianjiang International Cardiovascular Conference.
During the visit, Professor Hanif and Professor Malik went to the MicroPort® Self-experience Center with introduction about the development history, business sectors and globalization of MicroPort®, gaining a better knowledge of the various product lines and innovative technologies of MicroPort®. They are also deeply impressed by the outstanding innovation capability and diversified development strategy of MicroPort®. Afterwards, they went to one of the production facilities of MicroPort®, and took a look at the manufacturing process of MicroPort® products.
Professor Hanif and Professor Malik also had positive exchanges and interactions with the MicroPort® employees. Professor Hanif said that the rich product lines and strong R&D capability of MicroPort® had left a deep impression on him, while the extremely fine manufacturing process and rigorous quality assurance system at the production facilities had also boosted his confidence in the high-end medical devices of MicroPort® and even China. He added that the cardiovascular diseases were the top fatal diseases in Pakistan, but lots of local patients suffering from the diseases lacked timely treatment with efficacy so far due to the shortages of catheter labs, various kinds of interventional devices and equipment, and the clinicians who had received cardiovascular interventional education and training in a systematic manner in Pakistan. He hoped for further cooperation with MicroPort® to introduce more high-end medical devices and services into Pakistan, so as to benefit more local patients.
In September 2016, the Firehawk Rapamycin Target Eluting Coronary Stent System ("Firehawk®") acquired the registration approval from Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and officially entered the Pakistan market. As of end of 2017, approximately 4.5 million coronary stents manufactured by MicroPort®, including the Firehawk® stent, have been implanted in about 3.5 million patients worldwide. Firehawk® has now been approved for use and marketed in 36 countries and territories globally.
Pakistan is a major cooperation partner of China in the "Belt and Road Initiative" of China. In the future, MicroPort® will continue to adhere to its vision that the people are the most essential aspect of building a leading, globalized medical corporation, where the patient always comes first, in the area of high-technology therapies embodied by minimally invasive and other emerging medical technologies. MicroPort® will actively explore the international market on the basis of independent innovation, so as to benefit more patients globally with the high-end medical device products and services from China.