Elscint seeks a share in mammography market

Elscint is waging an aggressive campaign to increase its shareof the U.S. mammography market. The Israeli medical imaging vendorintends to introduce a high-end mammography unit in the thirdquarter of the year. Elscint will market the system--priced at$55,000 to $65,000--to end-users as the MAM 22. It will also sellthe same product through Kramex, said Yoav Zuckerman, mammographyoperations manager.

Kramex of Saddle Brook, NJ, will market the device under theAviva name. The firm will sell the mammography system both directlyand through dealers. Elscint hopes to have the distribution agreementfinalized in the next few weeks, Zuckerman said. Elscint's Americansubsidiary is headquartered in Hackensack, NJ.

"We chose Kramex because of the success it had with (Japanesemammography supplier) Acoma, its excellent relationship with manydealers, and its serious and responsible record with its customers,"Zuckerman said.

About a third of the 11,000 mammography units installed inthe U.S. will be upgraded in the next two to four years, he predicted.U.S. mammography sales were about $110 million--2000 units--in1991. Sales this year are projected between $120 million and $130million, Zuckerman said.

Although Elscint has sold more than 450 MAM LS-3 systems inthe U.S. since 1984, its current market share is minute. Zuckermanhopes to change that with the new product and the Kramex deal.

"We hope to find ourselves in the 5% to 10% range in thenext year," he said. "It's ambitious, but that's ourplan."

Elscint intends to market the MAM 22 in tandem with the mid-rangeMAM 3RM, which has been on the market since last year. MAM 3RMsells in the $30,000 to $35,000 range.

"The MAM 22 is a software-based system. The MAM 3RM ishardware-based," Zuckerman said.

If Elscint is to reach a 10% share of the U.S. mammographymarket, it will have to knock over some formidable competitors,including multimodality vendors GE and Siemens (see chart). Butthe vendor believes it has the products, the people and the planto do the job, Zuckerman said.