Align Technology (ALGN)

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Greg Aurand

www.zacks.com

Align Technology, Inc., founded in 1997, is engaged in the design, manufacture, and marketing of Invisalign, a proprietary system for treating malocclusion, or crooked teeth. The Invisalign product has two components, ClinCheck and Aligners. ClinCheck is an Internet-based application that allows dental professionals to simulate treatment in three dimensions, by modeling two-week stages of tooth movement. Aligners are thin, clear-plastic, removable dental appliances that are manufactured in a series to correspond to each two-week stage of the ClinCheck simulation. Aligners are customized to perform the treatment prescribed for an individual patient by dental professionals using ClinCheck. Invisalign is approved to treat patients, with any type of malocclusion, with mature upper and lower tooth structures. The company voluntarily restricts the use of Invisalign to adults and adolescents with immature structures. Typically, permanent structures occur in the later-teen years. Align does not treat children whose teeth and jaws are still developing, as the effectiveness of Invisalign relies on the company's ability to accurately predict the movement of teeth over the course of treatment. Based on its clinical studies to date, Align recommends that dental professionals use Invisalign as a complete treatment for a range of malocclusions, and as a component of treatment for severe malocclusions.

Internationally, the company operates in the regions of Europe, Asia/Pacific, and Latin America. At the end of 2007, sales in the domestic orthodontist channel represented 30% of total revenues, while sales in the domestic general practitioner (GP) channel represented 46%, and the international channel represented 20%. The remaining 5% came from education training and other revenues.

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