摘要
诺尔康人工耳蜗自上市以来受到社会各界及媒体的关注，这种关注不仅在中国，也在世界范围延续。中国品牌的高科技产品，也逐渐进入国外媒体的视野。美国商业周刊上周对诺尔康公司及其人工耳蜗进行了报道。报道从诺尔康植入者刘可— 一位耳聋多年的患者，通过人工耳蜗回归到有声世界的故事入手，详细报道了诺尔康公司的发起、当地政府及机构的援助、公司理念以及市场情况。报告指出中国市场一直被高昂的澳大利亚等进口人工耳蜗所垄断，而优势明显的高性能低价位诺尔康人工耳蜗的成功销售已打破这种垄断，逐步惠及中国以及世界的耳聋患者。
以下为详细报道。

A Chinese Hearing Implant Takes Aim at Cochlear
By Bruce Einhorn, Natasha Khan

                                                                中国人工耳蜗角逐市场
Company Lookup 公司回顾


After suddenly going deaf at age 30, Ke Liu, a civil servant in China’s eastern Jiangxi province, didn’t have many options. A cochlear implant might’ve restored his hearing, but the imported device cost tens of thousands of dollars. In 2010, Ke learned about a clinical trial for an implant made by a Chinese company, Hangzhou Nurotron Biotechnology. That year he had one surgically implanted and has since recovered nearly all of his hearing. “I have my old life back,” says the 38-year-old.
江西省公务员刘先生30岁时突发性耳聋，对他而言，当时并没有较多的选择。人工耳蜗可以恢复他的听力，但是进口的产品花费需几万美元。2010年，刘先生了解到杭州诺尔康神经电子科技有限公司进行的人工耳蜗进临床试验。同年他植入了诺尔康人工耳蜗，从此基本恢复了全部的听力。 “我又回到了过去的生活.” 现年38岁的刘先生说。

Unlike hearing aides, which simply amplify sound, cochlear implants translate soundwaves into signals sent directly to the brain. Nurotron has received approval from China’s health regulators to sell its implant on the mainland. At 98,000 yuan ($16,000), the price of its devices is less than half that of imported implants, says Nisa Leung, a board member who is a partner at Qiming Ventures Partners, a venture capital firm and an investor in Nurotron.
不同于助听器单纯放大声音的工作原理，人工耳蜗将声波转化成信号直接传送至大脑。诺尔康已通过中国食品药品监督管理局的审批，获得了产品注册证。诺尔康的投资者之一，启明投资的董事会成员梁女士说，诺尔康的国内售价9.8万人民币（$16,000），不到进口耳蜗的一半。

That price gap threatens companies that dominate the estimated $1 billion market for cochlear implants. The leader is Australia’s Cochlear (COH), which sold more than $600 million of the devices in its 2012 fiscal year ended June. Cochlear has enjoyed “a virtual monopoly,” says Stuart Roberts, an analyst with Bell Potter Securities in Sydney. He notes the price of cochlear implants has barely budged over the years, while other sophisticated electronics—such as computer chips—have gotten less expensive even as quality has improved.
对于主导估值近10亿美元的人工耳蜗市场的公司而言，这样的价格优势无疑是威胁。人工耳蜗的引领者，澳大利亚的Cochlear （COH）公司在结算至6月的2012会计年度的销售额超过了6亿美元。“Cochlear 一直享受着垄断”，悉尼贝尔波特证券公司的分析师斯图尔特. 罗伯特如是说。他注意到人工耳蜗的价格近几年来几乎没有调整，尽管诸如电子芯片等的复杂部件，质量有所提升，但价格反而下降了。

That’s what motivated Fan-Gang Zeng to try to come up with a cheaper alternative. The Chinese native, who has a Ph.D. in hearing science from Syracuse University, is director of the Center for Hearing Research at the University of California at Irvine. Zeng, who launched Nurotron in 2005, says finding researchers to work on his project was not a problem. “Cochlear made a lot of enemies along the way,” Zeng says of the company’s pricing. “So when we asked for help, we got help.” Cochlear declined to be interviewed for this story.
也正是如此，美国雪城大学的听力博士，现任美国尔湾加州大学的听力研究主任，曾凡钢， 在2005年创办了诺尔康，希望能提供更经济的耳蜗。曾博士说，此项目的研究并没有受到较大阻碍，寻找项目研究人员不成问题。当谈及公司的定价时，“Cochlear在其发展过程中树立了很多的敌人”，曾教授说：“所以我们能在需要的时候得到必要的帮助和支持。” 但Cochlear拒绝此方面的采访。”      
                                           
Nurotron also got plenty of assistance in China, where there are 28 million deaf people and 30,000 babies born without hearing each year. The government, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and state-backed hospitals contributed about 75 percent of the startup’s initial funding of 30 million yuan (about $3.7 million at the time), Zeng says. Mainland authorities were also willing to fast-track the approval process, which usually takes three to five years. After wrapping up clinical trials in 2010, Nurotron secured permission in less than a year to have its cochlear implants used in patients aged six and older.
诺尔康在中国同样得到很多的支持，中国有2800万的聋人，每年约有3万新生聋儿。中国政府，中科院，公立医院等在公司成立之初，投入了启动资金的75%，3000万（相当于当时的370万美元）。曾说，通常审批的过程是3-5年，相关机构加速了此过程。在2010年进行临床试验后，诺尔康在不到一年时间内通过审批，可向6岁及以上病人植入人工耳蜗。

If low-cost options such as Nurotron’s make cochlear implants as popular in China as they are in the U.S., “we are talking about 100,000 devices a year,” says Zeng, who now heads development at Nurotron. The company is focused on basics, such as building a sales team and training Chinese doctors to perform the operation. It’s also contemplating expanding into Latin America, according to Li Fangping, a former real estate developer who’s now the company’s president. Zeng says Nurotron will “eventually” consider applying for approval in the U.S. and hopes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will accept data from the Chinese trials.

如果诸如诺尔康等低价位人工耳蜗在美国的销售如同在中国一样畅销，“我们预计数量可达10万台每年。” 在诺尔康主导研发的曾教授说。目前公司着重于一些诸如建立销售队伍、对中国医生进行手术的培训等基本建设。据曾经的房地产开发商、现任诺尔康董事长李方平称，诺尔康将扩大其销售至拉丁美洲。曾教授说诺尔康将会考虑申请美国的注册证，希望美国食品药品管理局接受中国的临床试验数据。

In India, government-backed researchers are starting clinical trials of a locally developed device, says Dr. J.M. Hans, chairman of the ENT and cochlear implant department at the Rockland Group of Hospitals in the New Delhi area. It will take “another two years before trials are done and we are sure the thing works,” says Hans. If it does, a made-in-India implant could cost as little as $2,500.
“印度公立机构研究人员目前正对本土的产品进行临床试验”，新德里罗克兰医院耳鼻喉科及人工耳蜗植入部门主任Dr. J.M. Hans说道。Hans说还需花费2年的时间才能完成临床试验，确认器械可以工作。如果该产品成功，印度产人工耳蜗的价格为2,500美金。

Cochlear’s Sydney-listed shares are down 13.5 percent this year, compared with a 7.4 percent increase for Australia’s benchmark index, amid sluggish sales in the U.S., Europe, and developed Asia. “China offers a huge opportunity,” Chief Executive Officer Chris Roberts told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Feb. 10. But only if Cochlear has a solution for the local competition.
悉尼股价今年下跌13.5%，而澳大利亚基准指数上升7.4%，其在美国及欧洲市场销售疲软，亚洲市场上升。“中国呈现了巨大的市场机遇”，执行总裁克里斯.罗伯特2月10日对澳大利亚广播公司ABC称。但Cochlear必须采取新的解决方式应对本土竞争。

Nurotron’s Li says his company’s low-cost manufacturing base gives it an edge over its Australian rival. “The raw materials for our products are the same,” he says. “The difference is, if it costs us 3,000 yuan per worker, it might cost them $3,000 per worker.”
诺尔康的李董事长称其公司的低成本制造基地是应对澳大利亚竞争的有利优势。“我们产品的原材料是相同的”，他说“不同的是，如果我们每个人工成本是3千元人民币，而他们的是3千美金。