CeramTec’s Medical Products Division
For more than 30 years, CeramTec’s Medical Products Division has manufactured
ceramic components for hip joint replacements. Thanks to the pioneering efforts
of medical professionals and orthopaedic companies in using ceramic for hip
joint protheses and enhancing the quality of bioceramic implants, CeramTec’s Medical
Division’s products became recognized and accepted worldwide.
BIOLOX® Worldwide
For ceramic implants, the BIOLOX® brand has become synonymous with the best solutions in terms of quality and innovation. Worldwide, more than 4.8 million patients have received hip joint replacements made of BIOLOX® ceramic. Every third hip joint inserted worldwide consists of ceramic made by CeramTec—adding up to 75% of all ceramic implants altogether.
Good Manufacturing Practice
2003 was the year of a major breakthrough. After implementing high standards of quality, ceramic made by CeramTec was approved for the U.S. market according to the rules of Good Manufacturing Practice, or GMP. By 2005, about half of CeramTec’s bioceramic business was conducted via U.S. companies.
Investment and Growth
Within five years, sales have tripled worldwide and personnel doubled to more than 300 employees assigned to bioceramic components. To stay ahead of an ever increasing demand, a second full-scale production site is being built at Marktredwitz/Hof, CeramTec’s second long-established company location right after Plochingen. The investment volume for the new site amounts to 45 million euros. It will be capable of doubling the production of ceramic implants in the years to come.
Ceramic for Intervertebral Disks and Knees
Supplementing the production of ceramic components for hip joint protheses, CeramTec has widened its focus to apply bioceramics to intervertebral disk and knee replacements.