Weimai, VB Insights, and DTA Jointly Release 'Digital Therapeutics Value Assessment and Integration Guide' to Advance DTx Adoption in China

On June 16, the Digital Therapeutics Innovation Practice Forum was held at the 6th Future Healthcare Top 100 Conference. During the forum, Weimai, VCBeat, and the Digital Therapeutics Alliance (DTA) jointly released the Chinese version of the “Guidelines for Value Assessment and Integrated Application of Digital Therapeutics.”

Bai Yan, Director of the Strategic Investment Department at Weimai, connected with Chen Peng, Senior Researcher at VCBeat’s VBInsight, and Megan Coder, Chief Policy Officer at DTA, to share in-depth insights into international practices in digital therapeutics. Focusing on topics such as the new landscape and emerging opportunities in digital therapeutics, and drawing on Weimai’s experience, they provided strategic direction for accelerating industry collaboration and fostering innovative development.

With the rapid development of the digital health market, the global digital therapeutics (DTx) market size continues to rise. Chen Peng noted that in Europe and the United States, a preliminary industrial cluster for digital therapeutics has already taken shape. In contrast, China’s digital therapeutics industry remains in an exploratory phase, with room for improvement in areas such as definition, scope of application, classification, and technical review processes.

In response, Bai Yan stated that, as Co-Chair of the DTA Asia-Pacific Policy Research Center, Weimai and VCBeat, under authorization from the Digital Therapeutics Alliance (DTA), jointly released the Chinese version of the Guidelines for Value Assessment and Integrated Application of Digital Therapeutics. This initiative aims to provide domestic digital therapeutics companies and regulatory authorities with valuable international experience for reference in the development, regulation, assessment, and practical implementation of digital therapeutics products, while fostering industry consensus through ongoing dialogue and discussion.

“The Guidelines for the Value Assessment and Integration of Digital Therapeutics clarify the basic classification and related concepts of existing digital therapeutics products, and present numerous highly representative case studies of digital therapeutics products, illustrated with clinical charts. We will continue to iterate and update the guidelines to ensure they meet the needs of policymakers, decision-makers, clinicians, and patients,” said Megan Coder.

As an emerging field, digital therapeutics has long compelled industry decision-makers to rely on their own methodologies for product evaluation. With the introduction of the Guidelines, stakeholders can now clearly define the positioning of digital therapeutics within the healthcare ecosystem and employ a streamlined, transparent assessment framework to evaluate products’ basic information, clinical utility, and real-world impact.

The rise of digital therapeutics is primarily driven by the emergence of various digital technologies built on mobile internet. By fully leveraging these technologies, it is possible to effectively improve the accessibility of healthcare services, enhance patient adherence, and tailor personalized treatment plans for patients. On the other hand, empowered by digital technologies, medical institutions can significantly boost their service capacity and efficiency, facilitating easier access to patients’ out-of-hospital health data, thereby better achieving whole-course management encompassing prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and rehabilitation.

“Thanks to the rapid development of internet infrastructure and the relatively complete digital infrastructure in China, I believe that hospitals, doctors, and patients in China may be more receptive to digital therapeutics products compared to those abroad,” said Bai Yan. As a leading “Internet+” whole-course management service platform in China, Weimai has been committed to promoting the application of digital therapeutics in whole-course disease management.

Currently, Weimai has established in-depth collaborations with multiple digital therapeutics companies. Leveraging its whole-course management and digital therapeutics ecosystem platform, it has developed digital therapeutics solutions and whole-course management service systems for specific disease areas, including childhood autism, tumor-related complications, strabismus and amblyopia, Alzheimer’s disease, and postoperative orthopedic rehabilitation. Clinical validation of these solutions is being progressively initiated in public hospitals across China.

Taking childhood autism as an example, Weimai has pioneered the "Digital Therapeutics for Home-Based Intervention in Autism." By organizing a multidisciplinary team (MDT) led by attending physicians and incorporating professional clinical assessments, we develop personalized, multi-tiered intervention plans for each child with autism. This approach extends therapeutic techniques into the home setting, guiding parents to become "expert-level" caregivers. It ensures that children with autism continue to receive effective intervention after leaving hospitals or offline rehabilitation centers, thereby providing comprehensive disease-course management services for families affected by autism.

As one of the first companies in China to obtain DTA certification, Weimai has accumulated extensive experience in the development, evaluation, and clinical validation of digital therapeutics (DTx) products, and remains committed to building a comprehensive disease management ecosystem and digital therapeutics landscape for specialized medical conditions in China.

According to the "Global Digital Therapeutics Report (2022)" recently released by VCBeat in collaboration with the Health Commission of Hainan Province, most digital therapeutics products in China are still in the research and development stage, but a trend of industrial clustering is gradually emerging. To further accelerate the development of China’s digital therapeutics industry, Weimai has fully opened its operational capabilities and resource integration capabilities for its whole-course management and digital therapeutics ecosystem platform. It aims to help domestic digital therapeutics companies achieve "acceleration" in all aspects—from product development and clinical validation to in-hospital operations—jointly promoting the application of digital therapeutics in whole-course management services and benefiting more patients and their families.

Yang Leigang, General Manager of the Whole-Course Disease Management and Digital Therapeutics Center at Weimai, stated, “Weimai has currently established deep connections with over 2,000 public hospitals and 200,000 physicians, with its service network covering more than 200 cities across China. Leading domestic and international enterprises such as Poka City, Sanofi, and Eastern Speech have already initiated ecosystem collaborations with Weimai. Over the past period, Weimai has undertaken extensive efforts and initiatives to enhance partner capabilities, including empowerment in technology, operations, and hospital liaison. Leveraging its outstanding comprehensive corporate strength and industry influence, Weimai is well-positioned to build the ‘strongest ecosystem’ within China’s digital therapeutics industry.”