Targeting a Blue Ocean Market with Only 3% Penetration, Tekang Pharmaceutical Builds a One-Stop Medical Nutrition Solution
In the past 2025, the food for special medical purposes (hereinafter referred to as "FSMP") industry has attracted significant attention from outside. In the primary market, companies such as Saintong FSMP, Marasala, and Meiya FSMP have successively secured large-scale financing, with some reaching hundreds of millions of yuan. In the secondary market, Saintong FSMP and Yipin Nutrition Technology Group have filed for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, aiming to become the first FSMP stock.
The positive development prospects of the industry and the existence of high barriers have led powerful enterprises with backgrounds in dairy and pharmaceutical companies to choose to invest in it.Tecom Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Tecom Pharmaceutical"), which focuses on providing nutritional support and nutritional treatment solutions for "chronic disease groups" such as cancer patients and elderly groups with malnutrition, is one of them.
Since its establishment in April 2018, Tekang Pharmaceutical, which is optimistic about the development of the special medical food industry, has invested more than 360 million yuan in related construction projects. The investment of its own funds and the rapid establishment of production lines by seizing the industry's opportunities have led to Tekang Pharmaceutical's rapid development: with forward-looking strategic layout, continuous technological innovation, and deep cultivation of the entire industry chain, the company has quickly risen to become a leading enterprise in China's special medical food industry, successfully ranking among the top tier of the industry——
In August 2019, the company proactively established the Clinical Nutrition Research Center, laying the foundation for the R&D pipeline and future direction of Tecon Pharmaceutical; providing a solid basis for subsequent product development and strategic orientation.
In December 2021, the company was recognized as a national high-tech enterprise, demonstrating its strong R&D capabilities.
In October 2022, the company's testing center obtained the CNAS laboratory accreditation certificate. This not only represents recognition of the laboratory’s technical capabilities and level but also means that the reports issued by Tecon Pharma’s testing center can be recognized by more than 100 ILAC mutual recognition member countries, significantly enhancing its ability to expand into overseas markets.
2024 is a year of fruitful results for Tokang Pharmaceutical after years of accumulation. In July, the company's two products, "Fengbai" and "Sujin," were awarded special medical food registration certificates by the State Administration for Market Regulation. Notably, "Sujin" is the first powdered special medical food approved in Shandong Province. At the beginning of August, the company successfully obtained a production license issued by the Shandong Provincial Administration for Market Regulation, marking that Tokang Pharmaceutical has completed the full-chain layout from research and development to production, officially entering a new phase of standardized operations. In the same year, the company also received multiple product acceptance notices consecutively, enriching its product pipeline.
In 2025, Tekang Pharmaceutical achieved new successes in technological innovation and production capacity construction. In February, the company was successively awarded the titles of "Science and Technology Innovation Pioneer Enterprise" by the Rizhao Municipal Party Committee and Government, and "Outstanding Enterprise for High-Quality Development" by the Rizhao Economic and Technological Development Zone, demonstrating the local government's high recognition of the company’s innovation capabilities. In December, the aseptic validation project for the liquid workshop's aseptic filling line was successfully completed. The official launch of China’s first digital and intelligent emulsion production line marks Tekang Pharmaceutical's successful realization of a "powder-liquid dual production" strategic layout, transitioning from powder to liquid formulations. Its production capacity and technical level are both at the forefront of the industry. Continuous efforts have also won widespread social recognition.
As of now, Tekang Pharmaceutical has successfully obtained registration certificates for five special medical foods. Additionally, it has passed on-site inspections for two products, has two products under application review, and has 13 products in development. The products cover multiple细分fields such as全营养and component formulas, gradually building a comprehensive product matrix.
At the beginning of the year, VCBeat interviewed Tang Yongzhai, the founder of Tekang Pharmaceutical. Regarding the future development of the special medical food industry, he emphasized: "The special medical food industry is an important part of the 'Healthy China' strategy and is currently in the initial stage of industry development, which can be described as 'entering through a narrow door, walking a long road, and seeing a glimmer of light.' With the gradual implementation of the Healthy China strategy, the release of policy dividends, breakthroughs in technological innovation, and the improvement of consumer awareness, the domestic special medical food market will experience rapid growth in the next 3 to 5 years."
Currently, the special medical food industry is still in its infancy. According to CIC Consulting, the penetration rate of special medical food in the Chinese market is only 3%, far lower than the 40% in mature developed countries in Europe and America. In this blue ocean track, the market development prospects are undoubtedly particularly promising: with the aging population, the rise in chronic disease incidence, and the increase in health awareness, the market size will continue to expand. According to authoritative data, the scale of China's special medical food market will reach 23.2 billion yuan in 2024, with an annual compound growth rate of 25.34%, far exceeding the global average growth rate of 6.41%. It is expected that by 2025, the market size will exceed 28.6 billion yuan, and by 2030 it is expected to reach 50 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of over 10%. Tang Yongzhai emphasized,"The rigid demand of 300 million elderly people, 300 million patients with chronic diseases, as well as special groups such as cancer patients and premature infants, has driven the industry to grow from a 'niche market' into a 'billion-dollar track.'"
However, in this high-growth, highly promising sector, the industry barriers are relatively high. The current market shows a situation of "foreign brands taking the lead and local companies catching up." Tang Yongzhai pointed out, "Foreign brands currently dominate the high-end market through technological accumulation and brand recognition, while local enterprises are capturing the mid-to-low-end market via 'clinical demand focus plus channel penetration.' However, specific total nutrition sub-sectors such as oncology, nephrology, and Alzheimer's disease remain blue ocean markets (with only one specific total nutrition product available domestically)."
A profound understanding of the industry has led TECAN Pharmaceutical to adopt a differentiated strategy — leveraging its inherent quality and compliance barriers as a pharmaceutical enterprise, TECAN collaborates with institutions such as Shandong Cancer Hospital and Provincial Hospital. By utilizing clinical resources, TECAN achieves dual-driven product and channel development. The company focuses on the blue ocean market of full-nutrition solutions for specific diseases, implementing an "early layout, early R&D" approach to support special "chronic disease" groups, including cancer patients. Additionally, TECAN strategically emphasizes liquid specialized medical products to construct a differentiated technological barrier.
Tecan Pharmaceutical R&D Laboratory
In order to provide users with better medical nutrition solutions, Tekang Pharmaceutical has made arrangements around patients and clinical doctors:
On the one hand, targeting specific patients, Tekang Pharmaceutical focuses on creating medical nutrition solutions for chronic disease groups such as cancer patients and elderly people with malnutrition. Unlike the two companies currently listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Tekang Pharmaceutical concentrates on the adult sector, fully building the "Fengbai" China-specific medical protein brand while focusing on the research and development of liquid formulations for cancer and Alzheimer's disease, constructing technical barriers.
Tecon Pharmaceutical Liquid Dosage Workshop
Tecan Pharmaceuticals has currently been approved for five products (two protein components, carbohydrates, fat components, and electrolyte formulas). Among them, the product "Fengbai" is made from selected imported whey protein and uses a dual-protein formula design, with a protein purity of up to 81.1g/100g, offering both high content and easy absorption. The product "Sujin" focuses on providing nutritional support during the preoperative fasting period in enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) scenarios (a field that is still in its early stages in China but has strong demand). The product "Tecan Subo" adopts advanced wet-process technology, strictly controlling the ratio of caprylic acid to capric acid, ensuring absorption efficiency while reducing the risk of diarrhea. The product "Tecan Yousu" contains up to 85.5% protein, sourced purely from animal-based whey protein, making it easier for human absorption. It is specifically designed for individuals aged 10 years or older who require efficient protein supplementation due to specific diseases or medical conditions. The product "Zhipai" provides precisely balanced glucose and electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride), with a standard reconstituted solution osmolarity of approximately 220mOsm/kg, suitable for people aged 10 years or older experiencing mild to moderate dehydration caused by diarrhea or other reasons, quickly replenishing water and electrolytes. As more products are successively approved, Tecan Pharmaceuticals will gradually form a product portfolio of "basic component supplementation + comprehensive nutrition coverage," achieving an all-scenario layout from "support for single nutrient deficiencies" to "comprehensive nutrition support."
Beyond specialized medical foods, Tekang Pharmaceutical also has differentiated layouts in special dietary foods and solid beverages. For Tekang Pharmaceutical, a product structure centered on specialized medical foods, with special dietary foods and solid beverages as complementary additions, will help it form a strategic layout of "core focus, hierarchical complementarity, and full-scenario coverage." This approach not only meets the essential clinical needs for specialized medical foods but also extends into home scenarios through special dietary foods and satisfies daily health consumption demands via solid beverages.
On the other hand, for clinical doctors, Tekang Pharmaceutical has independently developed a smart nutrition system that can be integrated with the hospital's HIS system to jointly establish nutrition departments with hospitals, assisting clinical doctors in implementing nutritional interventions and issuing targeted prescriptions. Currently, several hospitals are using this system to conduct nutritional screening, nutritional assessment, nutritional intervention, and issue nutritional prescriptions. Moreover, the system also connects in-hospital and out-of-hospital nutritional support scenarios, helping to meet patients' continuous nutritional needs.
According to Tang Yongzhai, the founder of Tecon Pharma,Currently, Tecon Pharmaceutical has established cooperation with more than 120 hospitals, and plans to further expand its coverage in key regions such as Shandong, Hebei, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu.
The rapid development of the company is related to Tecon Pharma's deep understanding of industry bottlenecks and its creation of a solution that promotes "deep integration of industry, academia, research, and medicine" to address these bottlenecks.
Currently, only one tumor-specific full-nutrition food has been approved in the industry. This actually indicates existing bottlenecks within the sector. Tang Yongzhai pointed out that these bottlenecks stem from the following aspects:
1) R&D level: The precision and scientific nature of formula design are extremely high, requiring precise adjustment of nutrient ratios and components based on the metabolic characteristics of cancer patients;
2) Production level: In terms of the complexity and stability of the production process, the combination of various nutritional components makes the production process relatively complex. Especially for liquid medical foods, aspects such as uniformity of multiple components, retention of active ingredients, packaging, and storage must be considered to ensure product stability.
3) Clinical validation level: The clinical validation of special medical foods requires randomized controlled, multi-center trials, which are lengthy in duration, high in cost, and strict in requirements. The trial period typically lasts around two years or even longer. Clinical trials require an investment of over ten million yuan and also face challenges such as the difficulty of recruiting clinical participants.
4) Regulatory and standards compliance: In the early stage of industrial development, relevant regulations are currently not well-established, and many products currently have no legal basis. However, the requirements of regulations and standards are strict, and product registration must comply with three regulatory and standard conditions: safety, nutritional adequacy, and clinical efficacy.
Tecan Pharma, leveraging its pharmaceutical enterprise background, has transferred the full-chain experience of drug research and development, production, and clinical application to the field of special medical foods. Through the full-chain empowerment of precise R&D, high-standard production, clinical resources, rigorous quality control, and channel penetration, Tecan Pharma has formed a "first-mover advantage" in the field of special medical foods, building a competitive barrier that is difficult to replicate.
Overall, Tecon Pharmaceutical has built a systematic solution around the integration of industry, academia, research, and medicine. Behind this solution lies the company's core strengths:
First, Tecon Pharmaceutical itself has an experienced and highly efficient management team with rich industry experience.The team members themselves have accumulated years of industry experience, are familiar with the R&D and registration process for special medical foods, and can quickly respond to policy changes and technical challenges. For instance, the company's founder Tang Yongzhai and co-founder Sun Longda have long served in large state-owned pharmaceutical enterprises, where they placed great emphasis on policy guidance and compliance operations. Moreover, the management experience from their time in state-owned enterprises, along with the resources they accumulated, have been transferred to the development of Tekang Pharmaceutical, enabling the company to grow healthily.
Secondly, the professional expertise and technical accumulation of the core R&D team have built up core technological and patent barriers for Tekang Pharmaceutical.The team members have backgrounds covering professional fields such as clinical medicine, clinical nutrition, biomedicine, pharmaceutical engineering, food nutrition and engineering, food testing, and pharmaceutical engineering equipment. The high-quality R&D team and multidisciplinary cross-background have enabled Tecon Pharmaceutical to accumulate a food ingredient database and more than 120 basic formulas; facilitating its mastery of core technologies such as homogenization of liquid medical foods and formula optimization, solving industry challenges like stratification and sedimentation of liquid products.
Tecan Pharmaceutical Powder Workshop
Once again, Tekang Pharmaceutical already possesses multiple production lines for both powder and liquid formulations, which can fully meet market production demands.Tecan Pharmaceutical's powder production can reach an annual output of 3,000 tons. Its pre-sterilized liquid production line, with an annual capacity of 70 million bottles, utilizes an intelligent closed-loop production system to achieve full-process sterile control from material input to filling. The product stability has reached an internationally advanced level. The operation of the new liquid production line will significantly reduce the company’s operating costs and enhance its competitiveness in the industry. It also represents Tecan Pharmaceutical's differentiated production barrier and core advantage.
Tecon Pharmaceutical Liquid Dosage Workshop
In addition, Tekang Pharmaceutical chooses to collaborate with universities for industry-academia-research cooperation to drive technological breakthroughs, and partners with clinical institutions for clinical validation.The company has maintained in-depth cooperation with top domestic universities and research institutes to jointly tackle the R&D bottlenecks of special medical foods, providing the market with more high-quality products. Within Shandong Province, where Tecom Pharmaceutical is located, it has established clinical partnerships with several leading tertiary hospitals to promote the efficacy validation of special medical food products.
It is worth emphasizing that Tecon Pharmaceutical has established a standardized and intelligent quality control assurance system.Currently, the company has passed the ISO9001 Quality Management System certification and CNAS laboratory accreditation, establishing a full-chain quality control system from raw material procurement to finished product shipment. Moreover, Tekang Pharmaceutical has built its own raw material database, collaborating with over 30 high-quality suppliers globally. The formulation is designed based on the Chinese population’s physical condition and has been reviewed by authoritative experts in the industry. Notably, the CNAS laboratory accreditation means the company can quickly and accurately meet the needs of product development and quality management, providing reliable assurance for the quality and safety of Tekang Pharmaceutical's products. Additionally, the company does not need to seek third-party testing like some industry practitioners, significantly reducing testing cost inputs.
Tecon Pharmaceutical Testing Center
In order to better meet the needs of patients with FSMP (Food for Special Medical Purposes), Tekang Pharmaceutical is currently accelerating channel penetration and market layout through a composite marketing model.The premise of marketing is that Tekang Pharmaceutical has already built a product matrix comprising medical foods, special dietary foods, and solid beverages, which can cover and meet consumer demands ranging from mid-to-low-end to high-end products. By focusing on four core scenarios—out-of-hospital pharmacies, third terminals, OTC channels, and maternal and child channels—Tekang Pharmaceutical has established a comprehensive nutrition service network for all populations and throughout the entire life cycle. Among these, out-of-hospital pharmacies and third terminals address the ongoing rehabilitation and nutritional needs of patients after hospital discharge, OTC channels cover the general public's daily special nutritional adjustment needs, and maternal and child channels precisely target essential subgroups such as pregnant women, postpartum mothers, and infants. Moreover, the maternal and child channel complements other channels, helping to comprehensively expand user coverage.
Tang Yongzhai stated, "In the future, the compound advantages of Tekang Pharmaceutical's 'pharmaceutical enterprise gene + specialized expertise in medical nutrition' will continue to drive its leading position in the field of comprehensive nutrition for cancer and specific diseases, becoming a core force in the substitution of domestically produced medical nutrition products."
Medical nutrition support is increasingly showing its importance. At the national level, there have been multiple issuances to promote the rapid development of the special medical food industry——
The 2023 revised "Regulations on the Registration Administration of Special Medical Purpose Formula Foods" shortened the registration cycle from 3 years to 18 months, and reduced the review timeframe for priority review products (such as those for rare diseases and cancer-specific types) to 30 working days, lowering R&D costs for enterprises and accelerating the market entry of clinically urgent products.
In 2024, the government will incorporate "eco-special medical foods" into the "15th Five-Year Plan," encouraging companies to expand production capacity, enhance technical levels, and promote their adoption in clinical, community, and elderly care scenarios.
In 2025, the "National Food Safety Standard General Principles for Special Medical Purpose Formula Foods" (GB 29922-2025) was introduced, further revising product classifications and technical requirements, marking a new phase of precise guidance for industry development.
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Tang Yongzhai stated that China's special medical food industry has undergone a "from 0 to 1" process of system building and market cultivation, gradually entering a "from 1 to N" stage of scaled and precise development. Tecon Pharmaceutical is also seizing this development opportunity to rapidly expand the market: currently, Tecon Pharmaceutical is quickly spreading its in-hospital sales network through nationwide business cooperation; based on product synergy, further opening up the special medical food market; in addition, Tecon Pharmaceutical is also accelerating the integration of online and offline efforts to better reach patients and achieve out-of-hospital sales.
After contributing 135 million yuan in registered capital and relying on its own funds for nearly eight years of development, Tekang Pharmaceutical has now completed the construction of its initial production lines as well as the research, development, and production of its main products. To establish its brand more quickly and accelerate market expansion, Tekang Pharmaceutical is also planning to secure financing. Compared to financial investments, Tekang Pharmaceutical prefers to reach investment and financing agreements with industry-related parties that embrace long-term thinking, in order to expedite the company’s market penetration.
According to the introduction, the financing will mainly be used in three directions: "technological breakthroughs, scenario implementation, and ecosystem construction" to support the deep integration of AI in patient nutrition management. Specifically, the funds will be used for the research and development, clinical trials, and registration approval of specific total nutrition liquid products for diseases such as Alzheimer's and cancer. Additionally, it will also be utilized for expanding marketing channels and upgrading the AI-driven information systems.
Tang Yongzhai emphasized that the company has successfully completed the investment in the basic assets of equipment related to production facilities, and there will be basically no need for equipment replacement or other investments in the foreseeable long term. Currently, the company's product development, production, and sales targets are already very clear, and it is entering a fast lane of development. In the future, Tekang Pharmaceutical will focus on accelerating R&D, expanding the market, and building the brand through financing.
Looking to the future, Tang Yongzhai also pointed out that while meeting the demand for adult-specific medical foods, "Tekang Pharmaceutical will leverage its production and research advantages to actively promote the research and development as well as sales of infant formula liquid dairy products, striving to fill a domestic gap in the infant product sector. Ultimately, we hope that Tekang Pharmaceutical will have the capability to cover the entire population, forming a product matrix that achieves 'unique offerings where others have none, superior quality where others have some, and specialized excellence where others are good.' As reflected in Tekang Pharmaceutical's corporate philosophy of 'Special Nutrition, Health for All,' we aim to provide high-quality special medical foods that are accessible and affordable for everyone."