Nobel Biocare forges partnerships with Vita and Ivoclar Vivadent

LEIPZIG, Germany: In a sweeping campaign, Nobel Biocare has set up new cooperative partnerships with Vita and Ivoclar Vivadent, two European-based companies specialised on dental restorative and prosthetic materials. The agreements, which are part of the Nobel’s newly established Preferred Partner Program, are supposed to give the company access to more state-of-the-art dental materials for developing superior end-to-end prosthetic solutions, the company announced in a press note released in February.

With the goal of further strengthening NobelProcera’s leading market position in CAD/CAM-based dentistry, Nobel Biocare initiated the Preferred Partner Program in January 2010 with selected providers of dental materials. According to CEO Domenico Scala, the goal of this programme is to make it possible for dentists to take advantage of the most comprehensive portfolio of end-to-end restorative and prosthetic solutions available in the market. Nobel Biocare’s broadened product range will include new products, better veneering solutions, new cost-effective treatment options and complete solutions for edentulous indications, Scala said.

The agreement with VITA, which currently has one of the broadest portfolios of veneering solutions on the market, complements Nobel Biocare’s recent launch of a new scanner, software, and new prosthetic products and materials. The agreement with Ivoclar Vivadent will offer the company access to additional high-performance ceramics, including IPS e.max for full-contour crowns and acrylic prosthetic materials for temporary crown-and-bridge ceramics. In January, Ivoclar Vivadent was the first company to partner with Nobel Biocare within the framework of the Preferred Partner Program.

“As a leading materials company, we see a partnership with Nobel Biocare as an ideal combination of premium skills —milling systems and materials,” said Robert Ganley, CEO of Ivoclar Vivadent. “NobelProcera is a leader and pioneer in CAD/CAM dentistry, and a unique acrylic provisional material system that is due to be launched in 2010.”

“As a market leader in material systems, we have and will continue to partner with the market-leading digital-based CAD/CAM systems,” he added.

CAD/CAM-based dentistry is considered to be one of the fastest growing market segments in dentistry. According to an iData Research report, the number of all-ceramic dental prosthetic units is projected to grow by 10 per cent in the US and Europe over the next five years.

According to Dr Henry Rauter, CEO of VITA, “The optimal match between VITA products and the products and manufacturing processes of selected business partners has been our key to success for decades. This new partnership with Nobel Biocare increases our customers’ flexibility and enables them to combine VITA products with other leading dental systems.”

Nobel Biocare has been under pressure lately after net profits in the fourth quarter of 2009 did not meet forecasts and fell by over 30 per cent, owing to lack of demand in the worldwide dental implant market. Nobel Biocare shares have also dropped by almost 40 per cent since the beginning of the year.

Scala said that the agreements would help to strengthen the company’s position as the industry’s leading full-solution provider and partner of choice in dentistry.