Straumann and Align discontinue distribution agreement for iTero intra oral scanners

Beat Spalinger, President & CEO of Straumann explained the rationale behind Straumann’s decision: “We are convinced that intra oral scanning will have a major role in daily dental practice thanks to its superior accuracy, convenience and patient comfort in comparison with conventional impression taking. Furthermore, we are convinced that iTero is one of the best intra oral scanners available. However, we have decided to step back from distributing this hardware for three reasons:

First, our experience over the past three years has shown that a single hardware brand limits our addressable market. Moving ahead, our CARES CADCAM system will be accessible to various intra oral scanning systems, including the iTero scanner.

Second, our core business is in tooth replacement and restoration. We now have the digital work flow in place that enables us to produce high precision prosthetics for dental implants starting from an intra oral scan. As a result, we no longer need to sell intra oral scanners directly and will focus our resources on driving our CARES business.

And lastly, we have come to the conclusion that the business case for distributing scanners is not economically viable for us in the present economic environment.”

Align and Straumann are fully committed to providing continued support and services to existing iTero customers. The two companies are currently working together on plans for a smooth transition and will communicate details to customers as soon as they are finalized. In the meantime, Straumann will continue to offer first-level equipment support in Europe for at least the next 12 months, after which full responsibility for regional customer service will transfer to Align.

Straumann is strongly committed to digital dentistry and the development of digital workflows as part of its CARES platform and product offering. The discontinuation of the distribution agreements with Align will not affect the launch of new CARES services and products. However, it will have an impact on Straumann’s intra oral scanning staff and further details in this respect will be communicated with the company’s third-quarter results on 30 October. Intra oral scanner sales contribute approximately one percent of Straumann’s Group net revenues.

Media Contact:
Straumann Holding AG eter Merian-Weg 12 4002 Basel, Switzerland. Phone: +41 61 965 11 11 Fax: +41 61 965 11 01 E-mail: investor.relations@straumann.com

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