Elecomed Aims at Hundreds of Millions of Chronic Respiratory Patients with Smart Inhalation Drug Monitoring Platform

Perhaps, Zhu Jiangbao, founder of Ailecomaid Electronic Technology (hereinafter referred to as “Ailecomaid”), never imagined that he would ultimately enter the field of intelligent monitoring for inhaled drug delivery.

Now, it is already the fifth year for Aileco Maide. For Zhu Jiangbao, everything seems like it happened just yesterday. But what this company will develop into may have already planted its "seeds" in the past; he had seen the future of this company earlier on.

Venturing into the field of intelligent monitoring for inhaled drug delivery is linked to the personal journey of Zhu Jiangbao, founder of iAeromed.

His mother, who suffers from chronic diseases, often forgets to take her medication when she is feeling well. However, for chronic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular conditions such as hypertension, delayed or missed doses can lead to serious complications like cerebral hemorrhage. To prevent such incidents, he has made considerable efforts, including purchasing smart pillboxes to help elderly family members avoid missing their medications.

At a gathering of healthcare professionals, a friend’s remarks on the current state of patients with chronic respiratory diseases sparked his inspiration. He realized that for some chronic patients with respiratory conditions, the efficacy of inhaled medication often depends on the patient’s inhalation flow rate and duration during administration. “If we could monitor inhalation flow rate and duration, accurately record the patient’s posture and medication usage at the time of administration, and correlate this data with subsequent prognostic outcomes, it would create significant value for physicians, patients, and pharmaceutical companies.” The plight of patients with chronic respiratory diseases also reminded him of his own mother. Driven by the striking similarities in their struggles, Zhu Jiangbao was motivated to address this issue, leading to the founding of iAlco Med.

In fact, this is not an issue confined to a small segment of the population. Currently, the number of patients with chronic diseases in China is increasing year by year, exceeding 300 million nationwide. In terms of chronic respiratory diseases alone, the number of affected individuals has surpassed 100 million. Chronic diseases impose a substantial disease burden on society as a whole. The growing demand has further driven continuous expansion in niche markets, including those for chronic disease monitoring and medications.

“Leveraging electronic devices to monitor patients’ medication adherence and therapeutic outcomes, while helping users develop healthy medication habits, holds immense market potential,” added Zhu Jiangbao. “Currently, the one-child generation is the primary caregiver for the elderly; however, middle-aged adults who are actively employed often struggle to find time to care for their aging parents. Medication monitoring solutions can effectively assist them in caring for their elderly parents. Monitoring of medication use among the elderly and those with chronic diseases will undoubtedly become mainstream.”

Drawing on his personal experience and market insights, Zhu Jiangbao ventured into the field of medication monitoring for chronic disease management. But how to go about it? This is the second question that most people need to consider. For Zhu Jiangbao, his prior professional experience largely determined his approach.

After graduating in 2006, Zhu Jiangbao dedicated himself to product research and development, accumulating extensive experience in the fields of consumer electronics manufacturing, healthcare, internet, and industrial internet. On one hand, he participated in the establishment of Qixinbao and the data team at Haizhi Xingtu (KGInsight), and led the R&D of flow cytometer products at a company ranked second globally in flow cytometry monitoring, thereby gaining rich product development expertise. On the other hand, he has been involved in the development of multiple mobile applications, accumulating substantial experience in app development and demonstrating strong big data management capabilities. He has conducted in-depth exploration in areas such as front-end interaction design and development, data platform construction, enterprise profiling, customer needs analysis, user retention, and data mining and cleaning.

Ultimately, he chose to leverage Internet thinking to achieve medication monitoring and management for patients.

To better achieve this goal, Aileco Maide has assembled a team well-versed in chronic disease management within the healthcare industry and experienced in internet-based operations, including prominent members such as Professor Tong Zhenbo from Southeast University and Ren Hongxian, former Asia-Pacific R&D and Project Director of Clariant’s Healthcare Packaging division. Additionally, the company employs two product development engineers with 20 years of experience.

Following the completion of its team formation, Alecomaid has focused on developing intelligent flow monitors and medication management platforms in the field of respiratory care. The company aims to facilitate the intelligent upgrading of more medical products and enhance patient adherence and ease of use for medical devices through electronic flow monitors and web-based mobile applications.

For patients with certain chronic respiratory diseases, adherence to dry powder inhaler (DPI) regimens is often low: few patients can precisely control inspiratory flow rate, inhalation duration, and initial inspiratory velocity. Furthermore, most patients require long-term treatment, which places higher demands on the efficacy and safety of medications. In the context of an increasingly aging population, it is becoming ever more critical to help elderly patients with chronic respiratory diseases optimize therapeutic outcomes and provide services such as medication reminders.

Since its establishment in December 2018, AiLeKe MaiDe has successively launched various products: the airflow monitoring device compatible with Seretide was introduced in September 2019; the airflow monitoring device compatible with HandiHaler was launched in September 2020; the airflow monitoring device compatible with Breezhaler was released in March 2021; and the sound-based HandiHaler monitoring device was unveiled in June 2022. By the end of 2022, AiLeKe MaiDe had completed the foundational development of electronic devices for dry powder inhalers.

For enterprises, achieving profitability is undoubtedly a critical consideration. Currently, Alkermes offers its intelligent inhalation drug delivery monitoring platform to users free of charge. In addition to enabling medication adherence tracking, the platform provides services such as medication reminders. Meanwhile, to further enhance patient compliance, the platform allows family members and physicians to be added to member groups for supervising patients’ medication use. It is reported that the platform may also introduce value-added services in the future, such as online pharmaceutical purchases.

Currently, IcoMed’s primary revenue model involves collaborating with generic drug manufacturers—whose relevant products have not yet been launched on the market, with some companies still in the generic development phase—to shorten clinical trial timelines. Simultaneously, it works with physicians to track prescribed medications and monitor therapeutic outcomes. By establishing an ecological foundation, the company is partially commercializing its services while laying a solid groundwork for future commercial expansion.

According to Zhu Jiangbao, i-FlowMed plans to partner with overseas originator pharmaceutical companies in the future, aiming to launch its electronic flow monitoring devices alongside new drug approvals. Currently, the company is engaged in clinical collaborations with firms such as Chia Tai Tianqing and Jingwei Pharmaceutical, assisting these generic drug manufacturers in conducting their bioequivalence trials. Additionally, it is collaborating with the Children’s Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine to accelerate clinical progress.

There are indeed other competitors entering this market. However, Ailike Maide possesses two distinct advantages: first, it can monitor inhalation flow rate and inhalation duration; second, it has developed corresponding medication flow rate monitoring devices tailored to the mainstream dry powder inhalers currently available on the market.

From another perspective, some supplementary explanations may be provided. Currently, Ailike Maide has secured multiple patents centered around its inhalable electronic monitoring device, including seven design patents and two utility model patents. Its technological focus primarily lies in electronic flow rate monitoring and acoustic monitoring. Meanwhile, the company is actively laying out patent applications for aerosol-based technologies, aiming to gradually establish comprehensive patent coverage in the field of inhalation drug delivery monitoring for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

It is reported that Ailike Maide also plans to further expand its product portfolio, moving beyond its current lineup of dry powder inhaler electronic devices. “Our next step is to introduce electronic devices for pressurized metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs), thereby creating a comprehensive suite of electronic monitoring solutions for the entire medication process in chronic respiratory care. Meanwhile, we will advance our existing devices into clinical trials and obtain medical certifications. Furthermore, by offering cost-effective solutions such as voice-enabled features, we aim to develop standardized, high-value products. We are also continuing R&D efforts on electronic monitoring devices for injection pens and other applications.”

Currently, Alcare Med is also planning to further advance its fundraising efforts to drive the development of new products and technological upgrades, thereby enhancing the company’s competitiveness and completing its product portfolio. By expanding its R&D team, the company aims to achieve leapfrog growth and accelerate clinical trials and product approvals.

“Asthma and COPD patients face a significant burden in correctly using inhalation devices. Due to the enormous daily patient volume seen by doctors in China, many patients do not receive adequate medication education, resulting in inhalation therapy outcomes that are far inferior to those of patients in Europe and the United States. We hope to help patients achieve better disease management through our drug delivery devices and medication monitoring platform,” mentioned Zhu Jiangbao.