Interpore to Boost Overseas Grafting Sales

Interpore International, also in Irvine, wants a bigger bite of the international dental market too.

The company, which makes synthetic grafting material for replacing jawbones and other orthopedic uses, just lined up nine distributors to sell the material in Europe, Asia and Australia. Company officials say the material, made from marine coral, is an alternative to other materials used in transplants, such as bones drawn elsewhere from the patient’s body, or from human cadavers.

The company says the body is less prone to reject a coral-based implant and is less susceptible to contracting infection.

Interpore said it lined up distributors for markets in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. It’s also negotiating with distributors to serve other markets in Europe and Latin America.

David Mercer, Interpore’s president and chief executive, expects its international sales of the grafting material will triple this year over last, and triple again next year. Last year, its international sales of the product line were minimal--$300,000 out of a total $8 million, he said.

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Barbara Marsh covers health care for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7762 and at barbara.marsh@latimes.com.