Huarun Biotech: Achieving 1.6x Sales Growth and Building an Innovative Digital Minimally Invasive Orthopedic Platform Empowered by Robotics

"Minimally invasive orthopedics is a future trend that everyone has generally recognized," said Mr. Ma Yan, CEO of Hicren Medtech, in an interview with VCBeat. "It can be said that every step forward in minimally invasive orthopedics poses a corresponding challenge to the traditional orthopedic field. The application of digital precision technologies, represented by robotics, is accelerating this process even faster."

Hicren (Ningbo) Medtech Co., Ltd.A national high-tech enterprise focusing on the orthopedics field for over 10 yearsAs of now, the company has obtained 18 NMPA registration certificates, including 12 Class II certificates and 6 Class III certificates, with 7 products receiving CE certification. It is reported that in 2021, the company obtained 6 registration certificates, and it is expected to continue launching new products at a rate of more than 5 registration certificates per year over the next five years.

Accompanying the minimally invasive development of orthopedics is precision, and the most prominent representative of precision is surgical robots. Hicren Medtech has made key deployments in this direction, forming its current..."Innovative Enterprise of Robot-Empowered Digital Orthopedic Minimally Invasive Platform"Development Orientation.

In the field of orthopedic minimally invasive surgery, where numerous companies are vying to enter, how does Hicren Medtech create its own differentiated advantages? How does its robotics business resonate and collaborate with other operations? And how will it continue to maintain rapid growth in the future? Through this interview, we will get closer to the company to find answers.

There are numerous细分 fields in orthopedics,Hicren Medtech Currently Focuses on the Spine Surgery and Sports Medicine MarketsAccording to relevant data, the scale of China's orthopedic market was 26.2 billion yuan in 2018. Calculated at an average annual compound growth rate of 15%, it is expected to exceed 53 billion yuan in 2023. Among this, spinal implants accounted for 29.01% in 2018. Sports medicine is the fastest-growing orthopedic细分field in recent years.

Centering on these two main markets, Hicren Medtech has formed a "1+3+1" multi-product line layout:"1", Digitalization of robotics; "3", including vertebroplasty, spinal internal fixation, and sports medicine; "1", active devices and related consumables.

Source: Hicren Medtech

The vertebral body forming product line is one of the series that Hicren Medtech focuses on., and has achieved good results in the marketing process. The entire product line has already been listed on the procurement platforms and covered by medical insurance in 17 provinces across China.Spinal Fusion and Internal Fixation Product LineProgress has been rapid, with three of the six registration certificates obtained in 2021 belonging to this product line. These new products are expected to be quickly launched in the market in 2022.

Sports Medicine Product LineIt is expected to obtain the first registration certificate by the end of 2022, and other related products will be launched successively.Active Devices and Related Consumables Product LineHicren Medtech has obtained two registration certificates, based on which it will continuously improve the overall product solution.

The surgical robot product line has completed the development and finalization of the bone cement robot and the first-generation spinal robot, which are expected to be officially launched by the end of next year. The second-generation spinal robot has undergone technological upgrades based on the first-generation product and is currently in the research and development phase.

Among them,Based on advanced technology reserves,Vertebroplasty has become Hicren Medtech's most prominent product line. It is reported that its curved vertebroplasty surgical product is the first in China to receive approval from both NMPA and CE for market release.Ma Yan stated: "In terms of global commercial performance, Hicren Medtech is undoubtedly the Number One in the global angled vertebral body plasty niche."

Vertebroplasty is currently mainly used for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. According to statistics, the incidence rate of vertebral compression fractures in people over 50 years old in China is 16.2%. With the increase of age, the incidence will continue to rise.

According to Ma Yan, there are approximately 3 million patients in China who suffer from compression fractures caused by osteoporosis each year. However, only a small fraction of them actually undergo surgical treatment. The annual number of vertebroplasty surgeries in China is over 500,000, and the current market size is around 2 billion RMB.

Vertebroplasty is expected to become the most important treatment for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures in the future. By 2026, it is estimated that the number of people aged over 60 in China will exceed 300 million. With the improvement of living standards, and based on increased awareness of diseases and enhanced medical payment capabilities, the annual surgery conversion rate is projected to increase by 5%-10%. The number of new vertebral compression fracture patients per year could reach 4 million. With a 25% surgery conversion rate, the annual number of surgeries would reach 1 million.

Specifically, in terms of treatment, the advent of curved-angle vertebroplasty represents an iterative upgrade to traditional vertebroplasty. It enables unilateral puncture for bilateral formation, halving the surgical steps and time while simplifying the procedure. In terms of therapeutic outcomes, it not only makes the puncture safer and more effective but also ensures a more even distribution of bone cement within the vertebral body with fuller diffusion, effectively reducing the risk of bone cement leakage.

Hicren Medtech's angled vertebral augmentation products mainly consist of two categories: percutaneous curved vertebroplasty (PCVP) and balloon kyphoplasty (PCKP). Currently, the angled series products have been introduced into more than 500 hospitals in China, including over 150 tertiary hospitals. The second-generation product with a higher level of integration has also obtained registration certification.

"Hicren Medtech's series of angled vertebral body forming products have achieved differentiated advantages particularly in saving operation time, reducing surgical risks, ensuring balanced distribution of bone cement, multi-point diffusion, and good restoration of vertebral height."Ma Yan stated, "With the popularization of vertebral body plasty angled technology, we have more angled products in the pipeline and under development. Hicren Medtech will continue to push forward with 'angled' innovation."

Behind the "1+3+1" rich product layout, how to make each product line work together and play a synergistic effect is an important part of the platform enterprise strategy that Hicren Medtech aims to build.

When discussing product layout, Ma Yan introduced: "During orthopedic surgeries, doctors often face many challenges, such as precise puncture for vertebral body augmentation, accurate positioning of spinal fixation screw implantation, and how to create more precise bone tunnels in ligament reconstruction. Surgical robots can fully empower our three product lines—vertebral body augmentation, spinal fusion and internal fixation, and sports medicine—ensuring the stability and precision of surgical procedures."

Therefore, as a digital adhesive that can link various product lines, Hicren Medtech has made a differentiated entry into the field of orthopedic surgical robots.

Currently, although the orthopedic robot field is highly competitive, products still fail to fully meet market demands. Most existing products in China are positioned for large tertiary hospitals, with high prices making it difficult for them to reach lower-tier markets; these products are bulky and complex to operate, requiring technical staff to be present during procedures. In the face of the enormous demand brought by an aging population, the market needs small, portable, and cost-effective products.

To address pain points and establish its own differentiated advantages, Hicren Medtech, based on the team's global resource integration capabilities, formally partnered with Austria’s INS company in 2021. INS is an internationally renowned enterprise specializing in small and lightweight surgical robots, having launched three “smallest” robots approved by the FDA. Among them is the smallest neurosurgical robot, Stealth Autoguide, co-developed with Medtronic.

In China, the two parties established Sino-European Zhiwei (Shanghai) Robotics Co., Ltd., and Hicren Medtech introduced its rights in the Chinese region for orthopedic robots in the spine and sports medicine fields. Based on the cooperation with INS in the core hardware of robots, Hicren's three products—first-generation robot, second-generation robot, and sports medicine robot—are advancing to varying degrees.

"We have reached a consensus internally that we hope our robotic platform will not only empower the existing product consumables of Hicren Medtech," said Ma Yan. "At the same time, we also hope that, as an open platform, it can empower products from other companies. Hicren Medtech always welcomes active cooperation and hopes the industry can progress together, contributing our modest efforts to the development of China's orthopedic medical field."

As we all know, the product development process from "0" to "1" is difficult, especially for an innovative company. For a product to gain a foothold in the market, it is necessary to identify pain points from clinical practice and form good product ideas and ultimate solutions, which is the biggest challenge in the R&D process.

For the first crucial stage in the product lifecycle, Hicren Medtech is building its own clinical ecosystem, focusing on establishing connections with clinicians and understanding their needs to determine the R&D direction for producing products that genuinely address clinical pain points.

"From 0 to 1 is very difficult. How about from 1 to 10? It's also extremely difficult."After Ma Yan joined Hicren Medtech, he strengthened quality control at all stages of the product: "In the process of product development and market launch, every aspect of the entire operational chain—including efficacy validation, process improvement, quality control, supply chain management, cost reduction, and efficiency enhancement—requires absolute precision and diligence."If the early-stage process is not fully validated, leading to product withdrawal is a minor issue, but posing significant safety hazards to doctors and patients is a major concern.。”

In order to achieve high product stability, Ma Yan reconstructed the entire R&D process. The original R&D team was subdivided into four departments: R&D Department, Engineering Department, Quality Department, and Registration, Patent, and Clinical Department, collectively forming the larger R&D division.

Among them, the R&D department focuses on the realization of product creativity and design; the engineering department is responsible for process improvement and enhancement after R&D and market launch; the quality department controls the quality control nodes throughout the product development and production process; the patent and clinical team advances multi-dimensional intellectual property layout to form a patent moat.Hicren Medtech currently has a total of 118 patent layouts, of which 73 have been authorized, including 59 invention patents.

The strict control of product quality is an important task that Ma Yan, with his years of industry experience, has identified as crucial for the sustainable development of a company. This also seems to confirm that he, who enjoys studying history and philosophy, is adept at drawing lessons from the industry's development experiences while placing great importance on timing.

It is reported that Ma Yan joined Hicren Medtech in the winter of 2020 after being jointly invited by the company's founder and the executive director of a leading private equity firm. Prior to this, he had worked at Medtronic for 11 years, where he was responsible for the national sales of three product lines: Kyphon, bone graft substitutes, and minimally invasive equipment. Later, he co-founded a device company with friends, which integrated R&D, production, and sales.

After solving the product quality control issues, Ma Yan also began to strengthen the company's commercial marketing team, forming a large-scale integrated marketing team that includes the Sales Department, Marketing and Business Development Department, Channel Department, Public Relations Department, and Foreign Trade Department. The team employs diversified marketing strategies and collaborates with external dealer partners to build Hicren Medtech's marketing power.In 2021, Hicren Medtech's sales revenue reached 60 million yuan, achieving a 1.6-fold increase.

"At present, the company is undergoing Series C financing to boost its R&D efforts in integrating global resources. The funds will also be used to strengthen team building, expand production capacity, and grow the market." Finally, when discussing Hicren Medtech's development plans, Ma Yan introduced, "Within 2 to 4 years, we will continue to leverage internal and external strengths to achieve an IPO as soon as possible and build Hicren Medtech into a leading innovative enterprise—a robotic-enabled digital orthopedic minimally invasive platform."