Subtle Medical Inc. Files IPO Prospectus Amid Triple-Digit Revenue Growth and Strategic Partnerships with Bayer and Siemens

Over the past decade, more than RMB 100 billion has been invested in medical artificial intelligence. Subsectors such as medical imaging, drug discovery, and robotics have rapidly grown under this influx of capital. Meanwhile, the underlying AI technologies have evolved from machine learning to deep learning and generative AI, establishing artificial intelligence as a transformative force on par with the internet.

However, despite the entry of over a thousand enterprises into the field, few participants have managed to achieve commensurate revenue while sustaining high-intensity R&D efforts. It is only in the past two years that leading companies have realized scaled revenues, edging toward profitability.

Subtle Medical, Inc., founded by Stanford alumni, has emerged as a frontrunner in the commercialization race. As a leading innovator dedicated to AI-driven medical imaging services, the company has secured global orders exceeding RMB 100 million. Furthermore, in the recently concluded “2024 Future Healthcare Top 100” selection, Subtle Medical was included in the “China Healthcare Industry Chain Services List” for its cutting-edge technology and unique innovative capabilities.

Leveraging its generative AI-powered intelligent image enhancement product suite, Deepwise has established a presence in multiple markets across China, the United States, and Europe, achieving doubled sales growth for three consecutive years.

Subtle Medical Selected for “Top 100 Future Healthcare Companies · China Healthcare Industry Chain Services List”

How Did Subtle Medical Achieve Profitability First with AI in the Complex Healthcare System?

Unlike the strategic approaches adopted by other AI companies, Deepwise Medical’s product line, while situated within the medical imaging AI sector, diverged from the auxiliary diagnosis path chosen by many competitors at its inception. Instead, it pioneered a novel approach by focusing on AI-driven image enhancement from the ground up. Consequently, Deepwise Medical’s AI is not designed to replace physicians but to empower them by providing more abundant and higher-quality imaging data.

Globally, the vast majority of MRI and PET/CT scanners are operating at full capacity. Patients often face a waiting period of at least one week for an MRI appointment, which can extend up to a month in some large hospitals. Consequently, there is a pressing need for hospitals to accelerate imaging examinations. Reducing scan times from the conventional 10–20 minutes to just a few minutes would enable hospitals to accommodate more patients, thereby facilitating timelier diagnostics and earlier initiation of treatment.

Based on the aforementioned needs, DeepWise Medical has developed two AI-powered image enhancement solutions, SupPET™ and SupMR™ (marketed globally as SubtlePET™ and SubtleMR™), leveraging artificial intelligence technology. Specifically, SupPET™ is designed for PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans, accelerating imaging speed by 4–10 times while maintaining medical image quality equivalent to standard acquisitions. SupMR™ serves MRI applications, reducing scan time to less than half of conventional durations while ensuring image quality meets the requirements for precise diagnosis. Notably, DeepWise Medical’s AI solutions do not alter existing clinical workflows for physicians during the image enhancement process. Consequently, the company encountered minimal resistance during promotion, enabling rapid large-scale implementation.

After completing the initial accumulation of users, Subtle Medical diverged from a single-product path into parallel horizontal and vertical expansions. Targeting medical institutions as its user base, Subtle Medical has gradually incorporated imaging modalities such as CT, SPECT, and X-ray into its product portfolio, progressively achieving comprehensive coverage of the AI-powered medical imaging landscape.

From a longitudinal perspective, Subtle Medical delves into clinical scenarios centered around the needs of hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, achieving real-time image enhancement during surgeries and reducing imaging steps and radiopharmaceutical dosage in nuclear medicine imaging processes. Taking magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as an example, Subtle Medical has developed a series of end-to-end solutions comprising multiple products that optimize clinical scanning workflows, efficiency, and quality control, while enabling the completion of missing sequences and facilitating higher-quality contrast agent applications.

Subtle Medical Product Matrix

To ensure the sustained vitality of the aforementioned AI products in practical application, DeepWise has never ceased its iteration and innovation.

Since 2017, DeepWise Medical has secured nearly 30 domestic and international patents and published more than 20 papers in top-tier journals such as Nature Digital Medicine and Radiology, presenting the results of multiple multicenter clinical validations.

At the 32nd Annual Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), held in Singapore from May 4 to 9, DeepIntelliMed presented its latest eight MRI research findings as oral presentations. The selection of DeepIntelliMed’s research by ISMRM, a premier international society, underscores the recognition of its scientific perspective and achievements by global experts and scholars, and affirms the clinical value of DeepIntelliMed’s products.

For emerging technologies such as medical artificial intelligence, large-scale implementation requires not only that the technology itself demonstrates sufficient efficacy, but also that enterprises fully understand user needs and deploy the technology in appropriate application scenarios.

Subtle Medical has mastered this approach. For healthcare institutions, Subtle Medical primarily promotes SupPET™ and SupMR™, two AI-powered image enhancement solutions, along with SupQC, a quality control and workflow analytics platform. The former is designed to reduce imaging time and expand the service capacity of healthcare facilities, while the latter enhances diagnostic quality, helping physicians avoid misdiagnoses and missed diagnoses amidst their busy workflows.

Regarding delivery methods, Subtle Medical has also made adjustments tailored to local conditions. According to Gong Enhao, Founder and CEO of Subtle Medical, the company has established collaborations with U.S. medical institutions, hospitals, and third-party imaging centers, including Stanford University, UCSF, MD Anderson Cancer Center, RadNet, Mayo Clinic, and Mount Sinai Hospital. As these institutions prefer flexible AI deployment options, Subtle Medical offers its partners SaaS business models featuring pay-per-case, recurring payment, and enterprise subscription options.

In contrast, in China, Subtle Medical has actively responded to the national call for high-quality development of medical imaging and the provision of new quality productive forces in medical imaging. While prioritizing data security, the company has purchased software and hardware equipment through bidding processes for localized deployment. Currently, Subtle Medical has established client relationships with renowned Grade 3A hospitals, including Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, and The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, as well as with domestic imaging groups such as Meinian Onehealth Healthcare, Yimai Yangguang, and Panorama Medical.

In the face of fierce competition from various medical enterprises vying for dominance in the pharmaceutical and medical equipment sectors, Subtle Medical has also made significant breakthroughs in the past two years by leveraging generative AI.

In its global collaboration with Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Subtle Medical’s SupGAD product is being co-developed with Bayer as a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent, which has currently entered Phase III clinical trials. Subtle Medical’s AI solutions enhance the efficacy of contrast agents, enabling safer and more efficient contrast-enhanced MRI scans while optimizing low-dose contrast usage and ensuring the provision of standard-quality medical images for diagnosis.

Gong Enhao told VCBeat, “MRI contrast agents contain certain amounts of heavy metals. Typically, these agents are processed by the kidneys and excreted from the body; however, some heavy metals may remain in patients’ bodies and accumulate in organs such as the brain. Therefore, through collaboration with pharmaceutical companies producing such agents, we aim to leverage AI to reduce contrast agent dosage, improve diagnostic accuracy, and effectively expand the population eligible for contrast-enhanced imaging examinations, thereby facilitating earlier and more comprehensive disease detection and diagnosis.”

More promising collaboration lies in the field of radiopharmaceuticals. Since 2022, the emergence of new entrants, novel targets, and new radionuclides has made radiopharmaceuticals a bright spot in the otherwise sluggish innovative drug market.

In this sector, DeepWise Imaging has partnered with Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals (a subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company), Telix, and multiple other radiopharmaceutical manufacturers both in China and abroad. These collaborations aim to continuously expand applications from a pharmaceutical perspective, leveraging its multimodal AI platform and product portfolio to more efficiently acquire high-quality imaging data, biomarker features, and other critical information.

Turning to the medical equipment sector, Subtle Medical had already reached an agreement with Siemens in 2021 to embed AI capabilities directly into MRI scanners through pre-installed solutions. Late last year, Siemens Healthineers and Subtle Medical officially announced an acceleration of their deepened partnership, collaborating once again on the latest MR magnetic resonance imaging systems and high-end PET/MR devices to integrate AI-enhanced features, further improving scan quality and efficiency.

In September last year, Subtle Medical signed a cooperation agreement with Bracco Imaging, the global leader in diagnostic imaging agents, to jointly explore the application of AI in the field of MRI, aiming to enhance the precision of contrast-enhanced MRI medical imaging, improve diagnostic outcomes, and optimize patient experience.

Subtle Medical’s Commercialization Logic

Since its founding in 2017, Subtle Medical has secured exclusive licensing of relevant technological intellectual property from Stanford University and established collaborations with world-leading hospitals such as UCSF and MD Anderson Cancer Center. Its flagship products, SupPET™ and SupMR™, are among the first AI-powered medical imaging solutions to receive triple certification from the U.S. FDA, the European Union CE (MDR), and China’s NMPA.

Leveraging these advantages, Subtle Medical has expanded its market to Europe, Asia, South America, Canada, Australia, and other regions. Its multiple AI products are in clinical use at more than 600 hospitals and imaging centers worldwide, serving over 2 million patients annually, establishing it as a leading global AI service provider.

Recently, Subtle Medical secured nearly $10 million in Series B+ financing to further accelerate its global commercial deployment and R&D innovation.

In the future, we may witness the growth trajectory of generative AI in healthcare through Deepwise—by processing a greater variety of medical data modalities and optimizing workflows more efficiently, thereby empowering upstream and downstream partners as well as broader pharmaceutical scenarios, creating more intelligent applications, and ultimately benefiting more patients.