Olympus, the Japanese medical equipment manufacturer, announced plans to establish a research and development facility in Hyderabad, India, to strengthen its foothold in emerging markets. This initiative aims to capitalize on India’s burgeoning engineering talent pool and meet the growing demand for medical equipment, especially in fields like cancer screening and treatment.
The facility, set to launch an innovation incubator in the near term, is envisioned to evolve into a fully-fledged R&D center comparable in size to Olympus’ existing facilities in the U.S. and Germany. Tetsuaki Mori, overseeing Olympus’ R&D strategy, highlighted the strategic importance of India in expanding the company’s global footprint.
Olympus has been operating a sales unit in India since 2009, with the country contributing $89 million to its annual sales of over $6 billion as of the fiscal year ended March. The Hyderabad center will initially focus on developing simpler products such as suction and flushing pumps used in conjunction with endoscopes, alongside conventional endoscopic devices.
While Olympus currently has no immediate plans for local manufacturing, Mori indicated that consolidating development and production in the same location could potentially enhance operational efficiency. The company also plans to enhance its collaboration with HCLTech, an Indian IT services firm, to bolster cybersecurity measures and streamline regulatory compliance processes.
This move comes amidst Olympus’ efforts to address previous regulatory challenges, including issues raised by the U.S. FDA, by implementing improved complaint handling systems and digitalising manufacturing processes.
