Aircraft Medical can breathe easily after throat tubes launch

MEDICAL technology firm Aircraft Medical is expected to grab a bigger share of the $15 billion (£9bn) Chinese healthcare equipment market after signing a deal to launch its latest product in the Far East.

The Fife-based company yesterday unveiled a string of deals with distributors to sell its McGrath Mac video laryngoscope - a device that makes it easier to put a tube down a patient's throat to help them to breathe.

Nine Asian countries - including China, India and Singapore - will now have access to the device, which is portable rather than being tied down to a single hospital room.

Matt McGrath, chief executive of Aircraft Medical, said: "Asia Pacific is a significant market for the McGrath Mac and these distribution agreements mark an important step for the global commercialisation of the new product.

"We are seeing strong demand from anaesthetists and partners worldwide. We expect to complete our Asia Pacific distribution network for the McGrath Mac this year and look forward to making new appointments in Japan and Australasia."

The firm's original device, the Series 5, has racked up $25 million (15m) of sales from 35 countries in the past four years. The Series 5 is designed to be used in difficult cases, whereas the new Mac is built for normal operations.

Analysts at research firm Frost & Sullivan estimate that, by 2012, the Asia-Pacific region will account for 25 per cent of global medical device revenues, while rivals at Kalorama Information expect the global market for healthcare equipment to stand at $312bn this year.

McGrath began work on his first video laryngoscope in 1999 after the Royal Society of Arts in London issued a design brief.

He founded the company in 2001 and expanded in 2009 by buying Spanish outfit Morpheus Medical, which makes machines for monitoring a patient's level of consciousness after they are put to sleep for an operation.