Sulicon Bio Completes Tens of Millions of Yuan Financing to Lead China's Medical Foods Industry

VCBeat has learned that recently,Zhejiang Hisun Sulikang Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Sulikang”), a leading domestic enterprise in the field of foods for special medical purposes (FSMP), has completed a financing round worth tens of millions of yuan, with exclusive investment from Zhandao Capital. Shanyun Capital served as the financial advisor.The proceeds from this financing round will be allocated to the research, development, and regulatory registration of blockbuster products, as well as to the establishment of specialized distribution channels.

Sulikan, formerly a health and wellness subsidiary of the A-share listed company Hisun Pharmaceutical, is among the earliest enterprises in China to focus on the research, development, and production of foods for special medical purposes (FSMP). Since its establishment, Sulikan has built manufacturing facilities and production lines at a leading domestic level, along with a high-standard testing center and a comprehensive quality control system. It is one of the few FSMP companies in China that integrates R&D, production, and professional marketing into a unified operation. In July 2023, Yuanquan Industrial, the management team, and Zhongding Capital gained controlling interest in Sulikan through an angel financing round.

The registration requirements for foods for special medical purposes (FSMP) are significantly more stringent than those for conventional foods, approaching the regulatory standards applied to pharmaceuticals. The process from research and development to final registration involves high professional demands, lengthy timelines, substantial capital investment, and low approval rates, resulting in significant industry barriers. In August 2020, Sulikang successfully obtained China’s first FSMP approval for a protein component product—Yinengjia. Over the past year, under the professional and efficient management of its executive team, Sulikang secured approvals for three additional FSMP products—Yingyingjia, Yihengjia, and Yichangjia—with a 100% approval rate, positioning the company among the top FSMP manufacturers in China by number of certifications. Meanwhile, Sulikang is actively developing innovative new products in the categories of special dietary foods and functional foods, thereby enriching its product portfolio and expanding its potential target consumer base. Notably, its cutting-edge “Xianpeng” series satiety fiber powder, which utilizes patented raw material technology from Jiangnan University, features a 48-fold expansion effect and provides sustained satiety for six hours, earning widespread acclaim from its target consumers.

Sulikang continues to invest in product research and development, focusing on unmet clinical needs to develop blockbuster medical foods for special medical purposes (FSMP) with high market potential and significant technical barriers. Its first FSMP project targeting specific tumors is being developed in collaboration with the National Market Supervision Technology Innovation Center (Special Foods) and clinical experts. This initiative is poised to become the world’s first, as well as China’s first, precision nutrition-formulated FSMP for oncology. The project is scheduled to complete exploratory clinical studies in the near term and initiate registration clinical trials in 2024.

The global market size for adult medical foods has exceeded $20 billion, maintaining a growth rate significantly higher than that of the infant and young child medical food market. The medical food industry is highly concentrated, with the top three global manufacturers—Abbott, Nestlé, and Danone Nutricia—holding nearly 70% of the market share. China’s medical food industry started relatively late. In contrast to the U.S. market, where 65% of malnourished patients use clinical nutrition products, no more than 5% of patients at nutritional risk in China use medical foods, indicating substantial room for improving the penetration rate of medical foods in domestic nutritional support.

In recent years, the State Administration for Market Regulation and other relevant departments have issued numerous laws and regulations, establishing a comprehensive framework for foods for special medical purposes (FSMP) covering registration, production, distribution, and promotion. These measures regulate industry development and designate FSMP as the sole category of special foods intended for individuals with specific disease conditions. In 2023, multiple provinces and municipalities sequentially introduced policies to establish exclusive billing codes for FSMP categories, facilitating integration with hospital information systems and promoting collaboration between clinical departments and nutrition departments. Driven by these robust policy initiatives, the tipping point for explosive growth in FSMP sales has arrived. With Guangdong Province launching a pilot program for online listing and trading of medical nutrition products in early 2024, more favorable industry policies are expected to be implemented rapidly across other provinces. Over the next five years, the Chinese FSMP market is poised for rapid adoption and volume expansion, with strong potential to quickly grow into a blue-ocean market exceeding RMB 10 billion in scale.

Sulican closely monitors and conducts in-depth research on market and policy changes, focusing on expanding professional medical channels. Currently, the company’s products have been officially introduced into more than 220 tertiary hospitals, with exclusive bids won for several large regional Grade A tertiary hospitals. Sales volumes in some core hospitals are entering a phase of rapid growth. Sulican is actively developing compliant and innovative professional marketing models. The comprehensive health management service platform for cancer prevention and control in a certain province, led by Sulican, was successfully launched in March 2024, providing full-course nutritional management for 200,000 tumor patients on the platform.

Sulikang Management TeamStatement: Despite the numerous challenges faced by China’s healthcare market over the past year, our management team accurately gauged market dynamics and swiftly adjusted corporate strategy. By focusing on three key priorities—securing product certifications, developing high-quality distribution channels, and advancing the R&D of blockbuster products—we have driven breakthrough growth for Sulikang. We firmly believe that China’s market for Foods for Special Medical Purpose (FSMP) represents a hundred-billion-yuan opportunity, comparable in scale to the pharmaceutical and health supplement sectors, with the oncology-related segment alone rapidly exceeding ten billion yuan. Currently, we have established ourselves as a first-tier player in China’s adult FSMP industry and are confident in becoming the leading Chinese-owned enterprise within the next three years.

Wu Zhiwei, Founder of Zhandao CapitalStatement: Sulikang originated from the listed pharmaceutical company Hisun Pharmaceutical, possessing high-standard R&D and manufacturing capabilities. Its management team has extensive experience in building commercialization strategies from scratch (0-to-1). Currently, the company ranks among the industry leaders in product portfolio layout and expansion of core hospital channels. Foods for Special Medical Purposes (FSMP) possess dual attributes of "medical care" and "consumer goods," implying both high entry barriers and significant market potential. Meanwhile, the FSMP sector is an industry where multiple stakeholders achieve mutual benefits and win-win outcomes. We are optimistic about the industry's future development and look forward to Sulikang becoming a leading player in the sector.

Zhandao Capital, established in 2019, is a boutique private equity investment firm focused on the consumer goods sector, with key investments in consumer healthcare, the silver economy, pet care, and consumer electronics. Zhandao Capital organically integrates brand positioning with investment strategies, committed to empowering small and medium-sized brands to grow into national brands, and national brands to emerge as world-class brands.