Weekly Medical Device Industry Highlights [Oct 20–26]: Strategic M&A, IPO Filings, and Innovation Breakthroughs

Recently, Intricon and Minnetronix Medical, two U.S.-based medical device manufacturing and design companies, announced their merger to form a new company, Forj Medical. The new company positions itself as an "end-to-end medical device contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO)," with its headquarters in Arden Hills, Minnesota. It operates six production and engineering facilities across the U.S., Singapore, Indonesia, and Costa Rica. Forj Medical states that its services will span the entire process: from concept design → rapid prototyping → validation testing → mass production. Its technical expertise includes microelectronics, optics, precision molding, automated assembly, and system design. Key focus areas include diabetes management, vascular diseases, surgical energy, drug delivery, and surgical navigation.

Recently, Zhongguan Village Development Group cooperated with Beijing Tsinghua Changgeng Hospital affiliated to Tsinghua University"Joint Medical-Engineering Concept Validation Base" Unveiled. The "Joint Medical-Engineering Concept Validation Base" deeply integrates the rich clinical resources of Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, the engineering strengths of Tsinghua University, and the professional one-stop industrial service capabilities of Zhongguancun Development Group. It establishes an integrated service system covering "basic research - technical validation - incubation acceleration - industrial implementation." Through the deep integration of clinical demand guidance and engineering technology innovation, it accelerates the transformation of life science achievements and enhances the engineering R&D level and innovation capability of domestically produced medical devices. The base has provided achievement transformation services for 23 original projects, including AI-driven real-time imaging surgical robots and electro-pneumatic micro-dosing and micro-pressure spraying systems, with the potential to achieve breakthroughs in multiple niche areas.

Recently, the Netech Medical China Headquarters Project was signed and settled in Suzhou New District. Netech Medical Group is a comprehensive healthcare solutions provider based in the United States. As a global leader in the field of neurophysiological products, Netech Medical Group holds competitive advantages such as technological innovation and product diversity in crucial treatments like neurodiagnostics. The newly signed Netech Medical China Headquarters will establish a localized production base for neurodiagnostic products in China, injecting strong momentum into the innovative and clustered development of Suzhou New District's medical device and healthcare industry. As a region in Jiangsu Province’s "one district, one industry" strategic layout with key support for the development of the medical device industry, Suzhou New District has successively attracted and fostered over 1,400 enterprises in the medical device and healthcare sectors, including bioMérieux, Thermo Fisher Scientific, HeartPower Medical, and Kangdu Robotics.

Recently, Shenzhen Yunwang Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. announced the completion of its Pre-A round of financing, with lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu prominently appearing in the list of investors, jointly injecting capital with Zhen Fund. This cross-border investment not only marks Xiaohongshu's deep layout in the health consumption sector but also reveals that the intelligent rehabilitation device industry is undergoing a technology-driven transformation. Behind Xiaohongshu’s foray into the medical field lies its profound insight into health consumption trends. Platform data shows that notes related to "sports rehabilitation" and "home therapy" surged over 300% in 2024, as users shift from passive treatment to proactive health management. Yunwang's products not only meet this demand but also create a closed-loop experience on Xiaohongshu’s community: users can visually see the effects of massage devices alleviating sports injuries in posts, directly access purchase links, and generate word-of-mouth virality.

Recently, according to publicly disclosed information, MGI Tech has licensed its CoolMPS sequencing technology and general sequencing technologies (including the underlying technologies required for products such as sequencers, chips, and library preparation reagents related to stLFR and cLFR) to Swiss company Swiss Rockets AG for a fee. The license allows Swiss Rockets AG to develop, manufacture, and commercialize related products in global markets outside the Asia-Pacific and Greater China regions. Under the agreement between the two parties, MGI Tech is entitled to receive no less than US$120 million in licensing fees upon normal fulfillment of the contract until the end of the exclusive licensing period. This includes a one-time, non-refundable upfront payment of US$20 million, milestone payments of US$20 million, and royalties based on a tiered percentage of net sales of licensed products.

Recently, the Zhejiang Provincial Medical Security Bureau released two procurement documents: "The Zhejiang Province Orthopedic Trauma Medical Consumables Centralized Volume-based Procurement Agreement Renewal Procurement Document" and "The Zhejiang Province Coronary Intervention Balloon Medical Consumables Centralized Volume-based Procurement Agreement Renewal Procurement Document." Zhejiang Province will carry out the centralized volume-based procurement renewal for orthopedic trauma and coronary intervention balloon medical consumables. The procurement entities include all public healthcare institutions in the province (including military medical institutions) and voluntarily participating medical insurance定点private medical institutions, with a procurement cycle of 2 years. This renewal procurement is linked to the 2023 announced winning results of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei "3+N" provincial alliance orthopedic trauma medical consumables centralized volume-based procurement and the Beijing orthopedic trauma medical consumables centralized volume-based procurement winning results. A registration certificate submitted under the same secondary directory and with the first 20 digits of the national medical insurance medical consumables code being identical will be considered as one bidding unit, and one supply price should be declared.

Recently, the Shenzhen Public Resources Trading Center officially released the procurement document — "Centralized Volume-based Procurement Document for Digestive Intervention Medical Devices in Guangdong Province" (Number: SZGGZYHCDL202502), announcing the launch of centralized volume-based procurement for six categories of digestive intervention devices. This procurement covers all six major types: hemostatic clips, digestive intervention injection needles, snares, varicose vein ligation devices, hemorrhoid ligation devices, and papillotomes, almost encompassing the core consumables used in digestive intervention surgeries. The registration channel will open on October 20th: companies must complete product information maintenance before 17:00 on October 29, 2025, and complete the procurement registration before 17:00 on October 31, 2025. Notably, the declared price must be the actual supply price, including the product price, taxes, delivery fees, and accompanying services, among all costs. This means that after the fixed price, companies will have no room for any adjustments.

Recently, the intelligent auxiliary medical device classification system, led by the Beijing Municipal Medical Products Administration, has been launched in Beijing. This is a specialized system for medical device classification that integrates artificial intelligence technology and connects to the platform of the Medical Device Standards Management Center of the National Medical Products Administration. It can solve traditional problems such as low classification efficiency and inconsistent classification standards, providing support for the rapid and compliant market entry of medical devices. The system builds a "deep learning model + data comparison" dual-drive mechanism, generating preliminary classification suggestions based on historical data, and after decomposing technical features through a deep learning model and verifying them in multiple dimensions, it generates final classification suggestions. This changes the status quo of traditional classification relying on experiential decision-making, with results prone to deviation, empowering the rapid market entry of medical devices with precise classification.

Recently, the official website of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) reported that the "2025 Medical Device Economic Information Release Conference," hosted by the Southern Medical Economy Research Institute of the NMPA, was held in Hefei. The conference pointed out that the NMPA will further improve the legal standards system, increase support for research and development innovation, enhance the quality and efficiency of review and approval processes, comprehensively strengthen the high-level safety bottom line of medical devices, accelerate the market entry of innovative products, and promote the high-quality development of the medical device industry. On the same day, data released by Beijing Customs showed that in the first eight months of this year, Beijing's exports of medical instruments and equipment reached 5.83 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.5%. Analysts believe that the overseas market space for medical devices is several times larger than that in China, and an increasing number of medical device companies have achieved high international business growth. Companies with recognized international capabilities have also seen a corresponding increase in their valuations.

Recently, the Anhui Provincial Drug Administration issued the "Guidelines for Risk Consultation Work of Medical Device Manufacturers in Anhui Province (Trial)", providing clear opinions on the scope of application, principles, organizational structure, procedures, frequency, and more for risk consultation. These guidelines aim to further standardize and direct medical device manufacturers across Anhui Province in conducting and implementing risk consultation work. The Guidelines closely align with the realities of medical device manufacturers, specifying a dual-layer organizational structure for risk consultation: "Leadership Group + Working Group." The "Leadership Group," primarily composed of senior management personnel, is responsible for overseeing the direction of risk consultation efforts, approving major risk prevention plans, coordinating inter-departmental resource allocation, and ensuring that risk consultation aligns closely with corporate development strategies. The "Working Group," centered around key personnel from various departments, handles specific tasks such as risk information collection, preliminary assessment, organization and implementation of consultations, and follow-up on corrective actions, forming an efficient operational model of "decision-making, execution, and feedback."

Recently, the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology and two other departments jointly issued the "Detailed Implementation Rules for Several Policies to Promote High-Quality Development of the Biomedical Industry in Chengdu." These detailed rules focus on supporting pharmaceutical and medical device R&D innovation, improving the quality and efficiency of clinical research, and supporting enterprise growth. They specify support targets, application conditions, support standards, and application materials for 13 categories across three aspects. For the first acquisition of a Class III medical device registration certificate with independent intellectual property rights, a reward of up to 20% of R&D investment will be provided, with a maximum of 5 million yuan. If included in the National Innovative Medical Device Special Approval or Priority Approval Process, the maximum reward will increase by an additional 1 million yuan, with a maximum annual reward of 10 million yuan per enterprise. For Class II medical devices (excluding diagnostic reagents and equipment parts) that are included in the Provincial Innovative Medical Device Special Approval or Priority Approval Process and obtain their first medical device registration certificate, a reward of up to 10% of R&D investment will be provided, with a maximum of 2 million yuan, and a maximum annual reward of 5 million yuan per enterprise.

Recently, the 2025 Jishuitan New Advances Seminar opened. At the conference, the National Orthopedic Medical Center released ten innovative directions in the orthopedic field with forward-looking, feasibility, and implementation potential, and announced the establishment of the Intelligent Orthopedics Alliance. This alliance includes 76 member units and will promote the development and implementation of national standards for clinical diagnosis and treatment norms and technical safety in the intelligent orthopedics field. Jiang Xieyuan, Director of the National Orthopedic Medical Center and President of Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, announced the top ten innovative directions of the National Orthopedic Medical Center, including: artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis and treatment for orthopedic diseases, research and development of orthopedic surgical robots, personalized 3D-printed orthopedic implants, design and manufacturing of new orthopedic biomaterials and devices, cell therapy and tissue regeneration technology in orthopedics, precise diagnosis and treatment of rare and genetic bone diseases and multi-omics technology applications, personalized intelligent rehabilitation in orthopedics and sports medicine, innovation in new miniature and non-invasive diagnostic and therapeutic devices, prevention and treatment of age-related bone diseases, and standardized research on the application of innovative orthopedic technologies.

Recently, the Beijing Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Innovation Service Station (Haidian) was officially inaugurated, becoming the fourth municipal-level pharmaceutical and medical device innovation service station in Beijing after Changping, Economic Development Zone, and Daxing. This marks the official formation of a pharmaceutical and medical device innovation service network in Beijing with coordinated "east-south-west-north" coverage, further reducing the radius of policy services. The special session for medical device matchmaking as part of Zhejiang Province's "Ten Chains, Hundred Events, Ten Thousand Enterprises" series was held in Hangzhou, aiming to promote precise alignment between the "clinical demand side" and the "product supply side," facilitate smooth promotion channels for innovative medical companies, and achieve bidirectional empowerment, win-win cooperation, and mutual success between "clinical quality improvement" and "industrial foundation strengthening." The initiative also promotes the mid-to-high-end advancement of the medical device industry chain and value chain through the "three-medical linkage." Currently, China’s medical device industry is showing breakthroughs in multiple dimensions. From brain-computer interface systems to medical robots, from multimodal coronary OCT systems to ultra-wide CTs, a series of cutting-edge products that fill domestic and international gaps have successively appeared on the international stage, competing head-to-head with traditional international giants such as GE and Siemens.