Medtronic 2010 Annual Report Download - page 19

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 19 of the 2010 Medtronic annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 110

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110

Medtronic-Weigao Joint Venture At A Glance
Interests: 51% Medtronic
49% Weigao
Employees: 70 Medtronic
60 Weigao
Headquarters: Weihai, Shandong Province, China
Products: Spinal surgery products
Orthopedic products
Trauma and biologic products
Fo r Wei gao
The Chinese company benefits from our manufacturing
expertise. “Medtronic shares manufacturing best practices
with us,” said Huawei Zhang, Vice Chairman of Weigao and
Director of the joint venture. “They have helped us upgrade
technology, improve product design, and better monitor
mass production to improve quality control.”
In addition, being associated with Medtronic has raised
Weigao’s profile. “Partnering with Medtronic, the undisputed
leader in spinal implant products, has brought us more
opportunities to collaborate with other multinational com-
panies,” Zhang said.
Fo r Ph ys ic ian s an d Pa t ient s
Physicians are increasing their knowledge of available prod-
ucts, and being trained how to safely and effectively use
them. “Professional education is a key component of the
joint venture. While physicians at China’s academic centers
are already well trained on sophisticated spinal products,
most rural doctors aren’t,” Cannon said.
For patients, the benefit is access to life-changing therapies
that weren’t available to them before.
“I saw a 6-year-old girl in China with severe scoliosis who
literally would have died without fusion surgery to recon-
struct her spine,” Cannon said. “The deformity was so severe
it was collapsing her cardiothoracic cavity and eventually
she would have suffocated. In this case,” he said, “it wasn’t
enough that we created these wonderful, innovative prod-
ucts. We also had to be innovative in how we could get the
products to this girl who needed them.”
Chinese spinal and orthopedic patients have the most to gain from a joint venture between Medtronic and Weigao. They gain access to potentially
life-changing therapies.
15