TestOneLife's Strategic Vision for the Future of At-Home Diagnostics Amid the Rise of COVID-19 Antigen Self-Testing

On March 11, 2022, a policy completely ignited China’s long-dormant home testing market.

The “Notice on Issuing the Application Plan for COVID-19 Antigen Testing (Trial)” released on the official website of the National Health Commission, along with its supporting documents, namely the “Basic Operational Procedures for COVID-19 Antigen Testing in Primary Healthcare Institutions” and the “Basic Requirements and Procedures for Self-Testing for COVID-19 Antigens,” specify that antigen testing should be introduced as a supplement to nucleic acid testing. Community residents with needs for self-testing may purchase antigen test kits through retail pharmacies, online sales platforms, and other channels for self-administered testing.

Compared with nucleic acid testing, home-based COVID-19 antigen testing is more convenient and avoids the risk of cross-infection, garnering strong market response. Currently, more than 20 products have been approved. On March 27, the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission reported that as of that date, over 14 million people in Shanghai had undergone antigen testing.

The deregulation of at-home COVID-19 antigen testing has accelerated breakthroughs in market education, a previous bottleneck for the home-testing industry, thereby creating a surge in demand. In response, IVD companies traditionally focused on hospital markets, consumer-grade genetic testing firms, and emerging home-testing startups have all begun to actively strategize their entry into this sector.

Testing OneLife focuses on the home testing market. Founder Wang Qiangyu has cultivated the consumer sector for many years. Facing the current surge in home testing, Wang remains calm: “Home-based COVID-19 antigen tests are a specialized product born out of exceptional circumstances and are difficult to sustain.”There is limited room for relying on antigen self-tests to drive the long-term, robust growth of home testing. Companies should focus on how to build their core competencies.”

As can be seen, although many IVD companies are highly interested in home testing, the industry has not yet formed mature experience regarding the development model, product forms, and core capability building of home testing. Wang Qiangyu shared with VCBeat his thoughts on several aspects of the development model for home testing.

Home-based testing is not a new concept; tests for diabetes, hypertension, and early pregnancy have been in use for many years. However, their full potential has yet to be realized due to limited testing parameters, underutilization of test data, and the absence of closed-loop management.

Wang Qiangyu believes that “the core competitiveness of home-testing companies lies inPossesses product iteration capabilities, data analytics capabilities, and science communication marketing capabilities.”

The primary considerations for at-home testing are product performance and the capability for continuous iteration.

The debate within the industry over two forms of at-home testing products—POCT and laboratory-based send-out testing—has been ongoing. Wang Qiangyu stated, “The future will undoubtedly bePOCT and Laboratory Testing Coexist.“POCT offers a limited range of detectable indicators and insufficient accuracy, whereas the laboratory-based testing model demonstrates greater compatibility with various sample types, enables detection of a broader panel of markers, and delivers higher accuracy through specialized laboratory equipment. Coupled with China’s well-developed logistics network, laboratory-based testing holds greater growth potential and is poised to become the mainstream approach.”

Regarding the model for laboratory testing, there are two options: establishing an in-house laboratory or partnering with a third-party laboratory. Partnering with a third-party laboratory requires lower investment and yields quicker profits; even marketing alone can drive products to become bestsellers, making it the preferred choice for at-home testing companies in their early stages. Wang Qiangyu stated, “Although establishing an in-house laboratory entails higher costs and a longer construction period, it enables companies to develop independent R&D capabilities, ensure product reliability, and achieve efficient integration across various systems. ThereforeEstablishing in-house laboratories is an essential choice for home-testing companies.”

Consumer demand is diverse and rapidly evolving, with high expectations for the performance of medical products. Home-testing products must continuously innovate; relying on self-built laboratories to ensure product quality, enhance cost-effectiveness, and continually expand the product portfolio makes ongoing upgrades and iterations essential.

The product is the first step in home-based testing; however, it must be clear that users need not only a test result but also closed-loop services based on that result.

Wang Qiangyu explained: “Closed-loop services include preliminary testing, mid-term report interpretation, and follow-up health interventions.Testing requires high precision and an excellent user experience; report interpretation should enable users to understand their results, rather than overwhelming them with complex data and specialized jargon; health interventions involve targeted health management and online consultations based on the user’s specific circumstances, while also collaborating with offline hospitals and internet hospitals to facilitate patient care.

Data accumulation capability is the foundation for forming an effective closed-loop service.Home-based testing companies must, under the premise of data security and compliance, integrate data to create comprehensive, long-term, and dynamic datasets, thereby forming personalized closed-loop management solutions that ensure every user receives health services tailored to their needs.

The competition for home-testing products initially centered on product performance and service strategies, but ultimately boiled down to commercialization.

The difficulties faced by IVD companies in consumer-facing marketing are evident to all, and the industry is no stranger to cases where medical enterprises have failed in their B2C marketing efforts. Poor effectiveness and limited tactics in consumer-facing marketing remain persistent challenges for home-testing companies. In this regard, Wang Qiangyu’s view is: “The Prerequisite for Effective B2C Marketing Is to Conduct Robust Science Popularization。”

Industry-leading physicians and key opinion leaders (KOLs) are the preferred partners for home-testing companies in delivering science-based health education, fostering user trust and enhancing awareness of the necessity and significance of testing. Educational materials can be included in product kits to improve user understanding.

Medical knowledge has a high barrier to entry, resulting in significant cognitive load for users. In science communication, it is essential to leverage innovative formats such as infographics, short videos, comics, and ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) content to broaden audience reach and engage younger demographics. While maintaining professional rigor and accuracy in medical information, we should adopt presentation methods that are more accessible and acceptable to the general public.

Regarding channel layout, Wang Qiangyu believes that compared to a broad and comprehensive channel deployment, precisely strategizing channel placement based on product characteristics and target audiences is a more effective and cost-controllable approach.

It is important to note that the development of robust consumer-facing scientific education and marketing capabilities by at-home testing companies must be underpinned by a professional team of internet talent. Such professionals bring extensive experience and insights into consumer-oriented scientific communication and marketing, making them indispensable for the future success of at-home testing enterprises.

Continuous product iteration, closed-loop services, and consumer-facing science communication and marketing—these three core capabilities are tightly interlinked, collectively forming the moat for at-home testing companies. Enterprises must shift their mindset and accelerate the development of these three core capabilities.

VCBeat has noted that Testing OneLife, established on the eve of the home-testing boom, has already gained a first-mover advantage in building its three core capabilities.

Testing OneLife is composed of scientists, an internet team, and medical doctors, providing users with an ultimate product experience. The company has independently developedIntegrated Device for Peripheral Blood Collection, users can conveniently and rapidly complete capillary blood collection, overturning the drawback of most tests requiring venous blood draws and cumbersome sampling. This significantly enhances user experience while ensuring the safety and reliability of samples during prolonged transport at room temperature.

Data shows that Testing OneLife developedThe test results from eluted dried blood spots prepared from capillary blood were largely consistent with those from venous plasma, with correlations for all parameters exceeding 0.93.

Testing OneLife’s self-built laboratory features multiple technical platforms, including biochemistry, chemiluminescent immunoassay, PCR, and mass spectrometry. With nearly 50 R&D personnel, it has reached the standards of medical laboratories in China’s Grade A tertiary hospitals.

Leveraging its in-house laboratory, the company currently focuses on the sector of female fertility assessment, using endocrine testing as an entry point to offer six-item sex hormone panels and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) testing. The company is also developing thyroid function testing products. Combining the six-item sex hormone panel with thyroid function testing enables a more precise, scientific, and comprehensive assessment of female fertility.

In the future, leveraging our R&D iteration capabilities, we can expand into a broader range of offerings, including vitamins, fungal products, HPV testing, and assessments for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, liver function, and kidney function.

Meanwhile, Yisheng Health has established a comprehensive closed-loop health management service, offering online interpretation of test data, professional physician report review and consultation, health data archiving, health indicator management, and medical care recommendations.

In terms of commercialization, Testing OneLife has partnered with authoritative endocrinology teams in China and multiple internet social media platforms to conduct science-based marketing.

With superior product performance, a comprehensive closed-loop service model, an exceptional user experience, and effective science-based marketing, Testing OneLife can rapidly build its reputation in the home testing market and create a virtuous cycle.

Currently, the home testing market is in its nascent stage. The adoption of COVID-19 antigen tests has brought home testing into the spotlight, leading to a rapid increase in the number of companies entering this space. Beyond COVID-19 testing, these companies are beginning to explore the implementation of a broader range of testing panels in home settings.Enterprises with capabilities in continuous product iteration, data analytics, and science-based marketing will be the first to become unicorns.

Wang Qiangyu stated, “At-home testing aligns with the trend of healthcare insurance cost containment, the Healthy China strategy, and the rapidly forming health consumption habits among residents. An increasing number of users are opting for at-home testing models, with their testing needs becoming more precise and personalized, showing a stronger preference for a variety of single-disease at-home testing products.”

The market potential for at-home testing is widely recognized. Overseas, companies such as Everlywell and LetsGetChecked already offer a variety of at-home testing products through pharmacies and e-commerce platforms. In China, numerous enterprises are expected to rapidly emerge across various niche segments, including early cancer screening, women’s health, and chronic disease management.

Rising consumer acceptance of home-based testing and the rapid expansion of available at-home test panels define the overarching trajectory of China’s home-testing sector. “Moving forward, enterprises, investors, industry associations, and regulatory authorities must join forces to establish home-based testing as a mainstream model.”