2022 Future Healthcare 100: Launch of Innovation Power Ranking Survey for Listed Medical and Health Companies!

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Natural sciences, represented by life sciences, have entered a new Age of Discovery marked by brilliant development in the 21st century.

Looking back at the first two decades of the century, life sciences accounted for half of the annual scientific and technological breakthroughs published by Science magazine. Among the “Top 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2022” released by MIT Technology Review in February, four annual breakthroughs in the field of life and health—“Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 Variants,” “AI Predicts Protein Folding,” “Malaria Vaccine,” and “Oral Drugs for Treating COVID-19”—were successfully included.New discoveries and perspectives are emerging from laboratories in a surge, continuously driving technological innovation and product iteration, and providing novel solutions to the global research endeavor of “life computing.”

Innovation is the core driving force leading the next generation of strategic technologies and industrial transformation.As the core entities of innovation, enterprises exhibit different innovation drivers at various stages of development. In the early startup phase, with “survival” as the strategic objective, entrepreneurs assume multiple roles and serve as both pioneers and the core driving force behind independent innovation. During the growth stage, enterprises have accumulated a certain level of scale and profit, shifting their focus to competitive advantage and sustainable development. At this stage, while entrepreneurs remain influential, the innovation drivers are increasingly compounded by factors such as corporate culture, innovation returns, market competition, technological advancement, and the policy environment.

Targeting startups and growth-stage companies mentioned above, VCBeat has released the Future Healthcare 100 list for six consecutive years. Based on corporate valuation as the core evaluation metric, it comprehensively assesses companies inMarket Performance, Internal Capabilities, External Environment, Exit MechanismPerformance across 16 detailed indicators in four key areas enables the continuous and focused selection of Chinese innovative healthcare entities that truly represent the future of medicine, thereby driving innovation and transformation in the healthcare industry.Centered on valuation, our aim has never been merely to track numerical fluctuations, but to uncover the corporate innovation and growth curve underlying those changes.

As enterprises enter the maturity stage, they require substantial capital investment to support their strategies and innovation, making an initial public offering (IPO) a common choice among various options. In recent years, reforms in the capital market system have provided more possibilities for innovative companies to go public, further securing financing for innovation. Since 2018, many healthcare innovation enterprises have found “opportunities and pathways” to list on the stock market, with IPOs progressing rapidly. Judging by post-listing performance, these publicly traded health companies have indeed leveraged the strong support of the capital markets to significantly increase investment in innovation and strategic layout. Take BeiGene as an example: its R&D expenditure in 2021 approached RMB 10 billion, continuously advancing international clinical development.

However, against the backdrop of profound global changes unseen in a century intertwined with the pandemic of the century, the healthcare IPO channel, which had been fully opened since 2020, gradually cooled down after experiencing a “great boom” in the first half of 2021. Behind the frequent instances of newly listed stocks falling below their issue prices lies the market’s reflection on the return to intrinsic value. During this period of adjustment, some companies in the IPO queue have temporarily suspended their listing processes.So, for companies that have already entered the capital markets, what strategic and innovative performance within this new landscape will be required to meet market expectations and withstand scrutiny regarding clinical value, commercial validation, and international competitiveness?

As the backbone of China’s economic development, listed companies’ innovation serves not only as the core engine for corporate growth but also holds significant practical importance for national innovation strategies and industrial upgrading. In this vibrant spring season, coinciding with the annual report disclosure period for listed companies, VCBeat has officially launched the selection of its “Future Healthcare 100” list.2022YearInnovation Capability of Listed Healthcare CompaniesResearch, with the aim of through2021 Annual Report Data of Listed Companiesas the foundation, supplementing research on listed companies inInnovation Investment, Innovation Output, Innovation Efficiency, and Innovation ActivitiesOver 30 relevant indicators across four dimensions, combined with VCBeat VBInsight’s analysis of the sector in which the listed companies operateInnovation Trends and Opportunitiesevaluation methods for the analysis, selected and generatedTop 30 Listed Healthcare Companies by Innovation Capability in 2022。

A. Listed companies in the healthcare industry;

B. Registered or primarily operated in China (including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan);

C. The enterprise maintains a good reputation, with no major regulatory violations or penalties in the past five years, and no intellectual property disputes;

D. The enterprise must have completed the disclosure of its 2020 annual report at a minimum (disclosure of the 2021 annual report is not required).

Note:1. Healthcare Industry Classification: Based on the industry classification standards used in VCBeat’s rankings, covering enterprises in four major sectors including but not limited to medical devices, biopharmaceuticals, digital health, and healthcare services; 2. Listed Companies: Including companies listed on the A-share market, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and U.S. stock exchanges; 3. Annual Report Disclosure: For newly listed companies (with no 2020 annual report disclosure information), relevant assessment indicator data for 2020 must be provided in accordance with the evaluation model metrics.

A. Innovation Investment:The quantity, quality, growth rate, and intensity of innovation resources that enterprises have invested and are capable of investing. This evaluation model focuses on selecting four secondary indicators—funding, human resources, equipment and instruments, and laboratories—comprising a total of 10 specific items for survey and data collection.

B. Innovation Output:The quantity, quality, growth rate, and intensity of the final outcomes generated by corporate innovation investment. This evaluation model focuses on selecting two secondary indicators—patents, and products and services—comprising a total of four sub-items for data collection and assessment.

C. Innovation Benefits:Annual performance and growth rate of the economic value directly or indirectly generated by enterprises through innovation activities. This evaluation model focuses on selecting three secondary indicators—operating revenue, net profit, and new product sales data—comprising a total of eight sub-items for survey-based data collection.

D. Innovation Activities:Annual performance of enterprises in collaborative innovation leveraging internal and external resources, as well as awards received for innovation activities. This assessment model focuses on four secondary indicators—industry-academia-research collaboration, major scientific research projects, formulation of industry standards, and honors and awards—comprising a total of six specific items for data collection and evaluation.

E. Innovation Trends and Opportunities:The external environment exerts a profound and complex influence on corporate innovation activities, serving as a critical reference for assessing a company’s innovation-driven capabilities. This model selects two secondary indicators—national strategy alignment and industry prosperity—comprising a total of six sub-indicators for data collection and evaluation.

March 20–April 10:Annual Report Data Cleaning, Targeted Corporate Research

April 11–April 20:Selection and Review

April 23:RankingAnnouncement (The list will be announced at the awards dinner of the 2022 Future Healthcare Top 100 Conference, and all listed companies will be invited to attend the dinner for networking and award collection)

Participation/Survey Methodology

(Scan the QR code to jump to the registration link and complete the information form)

Election/Research Consultation

Consultation for the 2022 Future Healthcare Top 100 Conference