Weak 'Blood-Making' Capacity: Suzhou CH Biomedical Pushes Ahead with IPO as China's First Domestic Artificial Heart Company

BrioHealth Solutions (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (“BrioHealth”), vying to become the first listed company specializing in domestically produced artificial hearts in China, has seen further progress in its initial public offering (IPO), with its response to the first round of regulatory inquiries recently released. Notably, while the market share of BrioHealth’s core product, CH-VAD, has declined, that of its largest competitor, Core Medical, which is also striving to become the first listed domestic artificial heart manufacturer, has risen significantly during the same period. Despite this, BrioHealth still plans to expand production capacity as part of its IPO fundraising projects. Amid increasingly fierce competition in the domestic market for implantable ventricular assist devices (VADs), this move may well be a risky strategy.

Consecutive Losses in Performance

According to the prospectus, BrioHealth Solutions is a global innovative medical device company driving advancements in the treatment of advanced heart failure and market development through breakthrough new technologies and solutions. The company’s flagship product is an implantable left ventricular assist system (commonly known as an artificial heart, or LVAD). Its first-generation fully magnetically levitated implantable left ventricular assist system, CH-VAD, has received approval from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for market launch, becoming China’s first fully magnetically levitated implantable artificial heart to gain such approval. Its iterative version, CH-VAD Plus, has also been approved by the NMPA for market launch.

Financial data shows that from 2023 to 2025, BrioHealth Solutions' revenues were RMB 50.4532 million, RMB 77.3505 million, and RMB 213 million, respectively, while net profits attributable to shareholders were -RMB 306 million, -RMB 372 million, and -RMB 374 million, respectively. BrioHealth Solutions stated that the continuous losses during the reporting period were mainly influenced by two factors: On one hand, the company has long been focused on the research and development of implantable left ventricular assist systems, which require substantial ongoing capital and human resource investments before commercial sales can be realized; on the other hand, although its artificial heart product CH-VAD has received approval for market launch, it is still in the early stages of commercialization in China, with relatively small sales revenue that has not yet been sufficient to cover prior and current period costs and expenses.

In terms of revenue composition, from 2023 to 2025, the revenue generated by BrioHealth Solutions’ CH-VAD system amounted to RMB 50.059 million, RMB 67.0598 million, and RMB 105 million, accounting for 99.99%, 86.7%, and 49.27% of total revenue, respectively; revenue from accessories totaled RMB 2,700, RMB 1.4424 million, and RMB 10.1283 million, representing 0.01%, 1.86%, and 4.76% of total revenue, respectively. From 2024 to 2025, the BrioVAD system generated revenues of RMB 8.8446 million and RMB 97.8044 million, accounting for 11.44% and 45.97% of total revenue, respectively.

Furthermore, BrioHealth Solutions’ net cash flow from operating activities has remained consistently negative. From 2023 to 2025, the company’s net cash flow from operating activities amounted to -RMB 220 million, -RMB 293 million, and -RMB 319 million, respectively.

Regarding issues related to the company, a Beijing Business Today reporter sent an interview request to BrioHealth Solutions, but as of press time, no response had been received.

Intensified Competition

In its recent response to the first-round inquiry letter, BrioHealth Solutions addressed key concerns regarding the competitive landscape of China’s implantable ventricular assist device (VAD) market, including changes in implantation volumes and market shares for its CH-VAD and competing products since their respective launches, as well as the reasons behind shifts in CH-VAD’s market share.

The implantable artificial heart industry, in which BrioHealth Solutions operates, has entered a phase of sustained growth in recent years. According to Frost & Sullivan’s estimates, China’s implantable LVAD market is projected to grow from RMB 6.1 million in 2021 to RMB 1.19 billion in 2026, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 187.6%.

Currently, there are five companies in China whose implantable VAD products have been approved for market launch: Yongrenxin Medical, BrioHealth Solutions, Aerospace Taixin, Core Medical, and Abbott.

According to data released at the Tongji International Cardiovascular Conference, by the end of 2024, BrioHealth Solutions’ implantable VAD product, CH-VAD, had accumulated a total of 391 implants, ranking second; Core Medical ranked first, with its implantable VAD product, Corheart 6, accumulating 541 implants.

Notably, Core Medical and BrioHealth Solutions are currently racing to become the first domestically produced artificial heart company to list on the stock market. Previously, the STAR Market IPO applications of Core Medical and BrioHealth Solutions were accepted on November 6, 2025, and December 26, 2025, respectively, and both have now entered the inquiry stage.

In its response to the first round of review inquiry letters, BrioHealth Solutions stated that “intensified market competition has had a certain impact on the issuer’s market share.” Specifically, the market share of BrioHealth Solutions’ core product, CH-VAD, declined from 29% in 2023 to 26.9% in 2024, while the market share of Core Medical’s Corheart 6 increased from 26.8% in 2023 to 37.2% in 2024.

According to the prospectus, from 2023 to 2025, the selling prices of BrioHealth Solutions’ core product, CH-VAD, were adjusted downward, with average prices of RMB 379,200 per unit, RMB 385,400 per unit, and RMB 346,000 per unit, respectively. From 2024 to 2025, the average prices of BrioVAD were RMB 804,100 per unit and RMB 873,300 per unit, respectively. In response, BrioHealth Solutions stated in the prospectus that “this was primarily due to the company’s proactive price adjustments aimed at rapidly expanding its customer base, increasing market share, and establishing a solid customer foundation during the rapid growth phase of China’s artificial heart industry.”

Amid a decline in market share for its core products, BrioHealth Solutions plans to raise RMB 1.064 billion through this IPO, of which RMB 129 million is earmarked for the construction of a production base for implantable left ventricular assist systems. Upon completion, the company’s annual production capacity will increase from 700 units to 4,500 units.

Deng Yong, Director of the Center for Health Law Research and Innovative Transformation at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, stated that BrioHealth Solutions’ recent capital raising for production expansion represents a forward-looking strategic layout based on long-term market prospects. However, this aggressive approach carries inherent risks, particularly the prolonged cycle required to absorb the increased capacity. The company currently has a single-product portfolio and has incurred continuous losses since its establishment; any idle capacity would further exacerbate cash flow pressures. Furthermore, competitors such as Core Medical are simultaneously expanding their production capabilities, suggesting that industry competition is likely to intensify in the future.