YaoHuiBao Launches in Chengdu to Empower Biopharma Industry Through Integrated Insurance-Pharma Ecosystem
In response to the national call for improving the multi-tiered medical security system and promoting the synergistic development of commercial health insurance and the pharmaceutical industry, the launch ceremony of the “Yao Hui Bao · Biopharmaceutical Industry Ecosystem Integration Initiative” and the strategic cooperation signing ceremony were successfully held in Chengdu High-Tech Zone on January 15. Representatives and scholars from government bodies, enterprises, and academic institutions, including Sinopharm Group, Yishu Health, Hengrui Medicine, Shengdi Medicine, and Sichuan University, gathered to jointly explore new pathways for building an integrated industrial ecosystem.
Song Yiran, Founder and CEO of Shanghai Yishu Health; Zhang Hui, Deputy General Manager of Chengdu Shengdi Pharmaceutical; Ding Wenyu, Deputy General Manager of Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China, Sichuan Branch; Sun Jian, Deputy General Manager of China Life Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Sichuan Branch; Zhou Wei, Deputy General Manager of the Group Business Operations Department at Jintai Property & Casualty Insurance; and Wang Qin, Director of the B2B Business Department at Suzhou Yiduoyun, jointly participated in the strategic signing ceremony for the “Yao Hui Bao · Biopharmaceutical Industry Ecosystem Integration Plan” on behalf of their respective organizations.
Guided by the Biological Industry Bureau of Chengdu High-Tech Zone and supported by Sinopharm Group Co., Ltd., the conference was hosted by Shanghai Yishu Health Technology Co., Ltd. Co-organizers, including Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co., Ltd., Chengdu Shengdi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Suzhou Medcloud Health Co., Ltd., China Life Property & Casualty Insurance Company Limited Sichuan Branch, Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China, Ltd. Sichuan Branch, and Jintai Property Insurance Co., Ltd., each sent representatives to attend. The event also specially invited experts from the West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, to provide guidance. Representatives and scholars from government, industry, and academia gathered together to jointly witness innovative breakthroughs in the integration of the biopharmaceutical industrial ecosystem and the collaborative development of the innovation drug and commercial health insurance value chain.
At the outset of the conference, a representative from the Biological Industry Bureau of Chengdu High-Tech Zone delivered an opening address, emphasizing that the zone, as one of China’s first national-level high-tech zones and the first national independent innovation demonstration zone in western China, serves as the core hub for the biopharmaceutical industry in Sichuan Province and Chengdu City. The Chengdu High-Tech Zone has established a “government + insurance + enterprise” model, implementing multiple measures to develop specialized insurance products for the biopharmaceutical sector and to address pain points in key stages of drug and medical device R&D as well as post-market coverage.“As the national healthcare security system improves and the biopharmaceutical industry rapidly develops, commercial health insurance is increasingly becoming an important supplement to basic medical insurance. The launch of the ‘Yao Hui Bao · Biopharmaceutical Industry Ecosystem Integration Plan’ aims to foster integration between the pharmaceutical and insurance sectors, providing patients with greater access to innovative drugs, stimulating market momentum for R&D enterprises, promoting industrial transformation and high-quality development, and strengthening public health protection,” said the official. “We look forward to more innovative drugs reaching a broad patient population through diversified channels such as commercial insurance, thereby sustaining a prosperous innovation ecosystem and building a stronger safeguard for public health and well-being.”
Kong Xuedong, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Sinopharm Holding’s Centralized Procurement Center, attended the conference and delivered a speech. Kong emphasized that the global biopharmaceutical industry is currently experiencing rapid development, with innovative drug R&D serving as a key engine driving industrial growth. However, promoting the widespread adoption of innovative drugs and therapies, as well as improving patient access to medications, requires collaboration across multiple industries and stakeholders. Against this backdrop, the integrated development of the biopharmaceutical industry has become imperative. He stated that Sinopharm Holding will actively explore new pathways for industrial integration and participate in building a more open, collaborative, and efficient biopharmaceutical ecosystem. The launch of “Yao Hui Bao” will not only enable more patients to benefit from innovative drugs and therapies but also marks a new milestone in the integrated development across all segments of the biopharmaceutical industry.
Kong Xuedong, Party Secretary and Chairman of the National Procurement Center of Sinopharm Group
Song Yiran, Founder and CEO of Shanghai Yishu Health Technology Co., Ltd., stated during the product launch of the “Yao Hui Bao · Biopharmaceutical Industry Ecosystem Integration Initiative” that China’s pharmaceutical industry currently faces a mismatch between basic medical insurance and the public’s diversified, multi-tiered healthcare security needs. Meanwhile, the high cost of innovative drugs imposes a heavy financial burden on patients, which not only affects treatment outcomes but also restricts the further development of the biopharmaceutical industry. The launch of “Yao Hui Bao” will provide patients with comprehensive medical and medication coverage throughout their entire lifecycle, effectively alleviating their economic burden. Furthermore, by creating industrial agglomeration effects, it will promote the rapid development of the biopharmaceutical industry and enhance regional economic vitality. It is reported that the initiative will also actively guide medical institutions to use innovative drugs rationally and in a standardized manner, thereby strengthening the protective capacity and risk resilience of the medical insurance system, building a more robust healthcare security barrier for the public, and fully integrating multi-party resources to create favorable conditions for the research and development, production, and sales of innovative drugs. Song Yiran remarked, “This initiative aims to establish a benchmark model for innovative pharmaceutical integration projects in Chengdu High-Tech Zone. Through collaborative efforts, we seek to create a nationwide innovative prototype, further supporting the Chinese biopharmaceutical industry in reaching higher levels and constructing a people-centric, innovative, and sustainable health ecosystem.”
Song Yiran, Founder and CEO of Shanghai Yishu Health Technology Co., Ltd.
At the subsequent signing ceremony, Song Yiran, Founder and CEO of Shanghai Yishu Health Technology Co., Ltd.; Zhang Hui, Deputy General Manager of Chengdu Shengdi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Director of the Chengdu Shengdi Research Institute; Ding Wenyu, Deputy General Manager of the Sichuan Branch of Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China, Ltd.; Sun Jian, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of the Sichuan Provincial Branch of China Life Property & Casualty Insurance Company Limited; Zhou Wei, Deputy General Manager of the Group Business Operations Department of Jintai Property Insurance Co., Ltd.; and Wang Qin, Director of the B2B Business Department of Suzhou Yiduoyun Health Co., Ltd. jointly participated in the strategic signing of the “Yao Hui Bao · Biopharmaceutical Industry Ecosystem Integration Plan.”
Guests at the Signing Ceremony
Amid mounting pressures from population aging, chronic disease management, and rising healthcare service costs, the basic coverage orientation of medical insurance struggles to meet the comprehensive demand for medical service resources. There is an urgent need to promote the organic integration of the biopharmaceutical and health industries, alongside the introduction and adoption of diversified payment mechanisms. These measures will help build a robust industrial ecosystem, address the public’s diverse healthcare needs, and improve patients’ access to medications. By holistically integrating government, industry, academia, and research efforts, we can better align with a multi-tiered medical security system and alleviate the financial burden on shared medical insurance payments.
Hu Ming, Professor at the West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, and Director of the Center for Drug Policy and Pharmacoeconomics Research at the same institution, delivered a presentation on “Accessibility of Innovative Drugs and Diversified Payment Mechanisms.” He stated that the academic community is actively implementing a systematic engineering approach to innovative collaboration among government, industry, academia, and research institutions, while strengthening the construction of pharmacoeconomic evaluation systems to provide robust data support and theoretical foundations for medical insurance payment decisions. On this basis, enterprises and the government are working together to build an integrated development system encompassing healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and insurance, as well as diversified drug payment mechanisms. By leveraging respective advantages and resources, providing mutual support, and achieving closed-loop coordination, these efforts are expected to efficiently drive leapfrog development through synergy between commercial insurance and the innovative drugs and medical devices industry, thereby facilitating the high-expected realization of target values.
Professor, West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University,
West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University: Drug Policy and Pharmacoeconomics
Hu Ming, Director of the Research Center
Zhang Hui, Deputy General Manager of Chengdu Shengdi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Director of the Chengdu Shengdi Institute, shared the innovative breakthroughs and clinical achievements of Abiraterone II in the treatment of prostate cancer. “Abiraterone II, independently developed by Hengrui Medicine, is a next-generation innovative drug targeting prostate cancer, a common malignant tumor in men. With improved manufacturing processes, Abiraterone II not only requires a significantly lower effective dose than conventional formulations but also substantially enhances bioavailability while reducing the impact of food on drug efficacy. This allows patients to take the medication without strict fasting requirements, effectively improving long-term treatment adherence and demonstrating superior advantages in clinical application. The implementation of this initiative and the establishment of this collaboration are expected to reduce the financial burden on patients using innovative drugs for prostate cancer. Its widespread clinical application holds promise for further extending overall survival, improving quality of life, and delivering comprehensive benefits for prostate cancer patients in China.”
Zhang Hui, Deputy General Manager of Chengdu Shengdi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Director of the Chengdu Shengdi Institute
Gu Kejun, Chairman and General Manager of Suzhou Yiduoyun Health Co., Ltd., delivered a keynote speech titled “Innovation and Practice in Standardized Patient Management and the Development of Health-Promoting Commercial Insurance.” Mr. Gu pointed out that new types of health insurance are seizing a critical window for rapid development, driven by both national policy support and market demand. By leveraging flexible coverage options, Yiduoyun’s intelligent AI patient management system, and its large language model (LLM) toolchain, the company enables intelligent recognition of patient communication intents and precisely activates the toolchain to proactively intervene and resolve patient issues. This approach lowers the barrier to patient engagement in managed care, enhances patients’ willingness to actively participate in standardized patient management, and ensures that patients receive greater protection and health benefits. Furthermore, it provides robust support for claims risk control in new health insurance models, thereby promoting their role as a vital component of the public’s healthcare security framework.
Gu Kejun, Chairman and General Manager of Suzhou Yiduoyun Health Co., Ltd.
Wan Shiya, Underwriting Manager at the Sichuan Branch of Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China, shared insights on “The Path of Exploration for Insurance under a Multi-Layered Medical Security System” from the perspective of an insurance provider: “We believe that through collaborative efforts among healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, and insurers, we will achieve significant breakthroughs in innovative insurance. The ‘Yao Hui Bao’ signing initiative, coupled with the future participation of more insurance enterprises, will effectively alleviate patients’ medical financial burden, bolster their confidence in medication adherence, extend patient survival outcomes, and benefit more Chinese families.”
Wan Shiya, Underwriting Manager, Sichuan Branch of Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China, Ltd.
The successful convening of this conference aims to clarify the policy focal points and development trends in biopharmaceuticals and commercial health insurance, laying a solid foundation for future collaboration. Through the joint efforts of government, industry, and academia, the “Yao Hui Bao · Biopharmaceutical Industry Ecosystem Integration Initiative” will undoubtedly drive high-quality development in the biopharmaceutical sector, benefit a broad patient population, and create a “buffer zone” to address the short-term mismatch between uneven healthcare supply and the public’s growing demand for medical services.