Innovative CRO AsherMed Secures Tens of Millions in Series A Funding, Index Capital Acts as Exclusive Financial Advisor
Recently,Aisha Medicine, an innovative clinical CRO service provider leveraging internet technology, announced the completion of its tens-of-millions-yuan Series A financing round,This funding round was co-led by Tuojin Capital and Boxing Capital, with Index Capital serving as the exclusive financial advisor. The proceeds will be primarily allocated to increasing R&D investment in intelligent clinical research management systems, talent acquisition, and market expansion, thereby further accelerating business scaling and facilitating the rapid development and commercialization of innovative drugs.
Physician-turned-Tian Yongqian, Founder and CEO of Aisha Medicalstated, “The advancement of human health is inseparable from pharmaceutical innovation and R&D. From the earliest chemical drug sulfonamide to the antibiotic penicillin, and now to biological targeted therapies, cell therapies, and gene therapies; from the ancient practice of variolation to vaccination, and now to RNA interference technology, gene editing, and CRISPR—each wave of pharmaceutical innovation has elevated human health to new heights and repeatedly addressed unmet needs in disease diagnosis and treatment. In the 21st century, innovative drug R&D has flourished. The emergence of new technologies has significantly shortened drug screening cycles, leading to a rapid surge in innovative drugs. Open policies by approval and regulatory authorities have also enabled more new drugs to enter clinical trials quickly and achieve commercialization in the short term. Consequently, pharmaceutical companies’ overall demand for clinical CROs, as well as their requirements for rapid response and efficient project management from clinical CROs, have become increasingly stringent. Meanwhile, the continuous maturation of internet technology has made it possible to break through traditional CRO management models. iSA Medical deeply understands patients’ needs for medical treatment, innovative pharmaceutical companies’ R&D needs, and clinicians’ disease management needs. While connecting the needs of all parties,Aisha Medical has pioneered an innovative clinical trial management model based on internet technology, which can significantly enhance the efficiency of clinical research management. We aim to facilitate the clinical development of new drugs, thereby better and more rapidly addressing patients’ unmet health needs.”
Clinical CRO Services Market Accelerates, with Scale Poised to Rapidly Surpass the 100 Billion Yuan Mark
With the continuous advancement of healthcare reforms, demand for innovative drug R&D has surged. However, it is well known that new drug development is characterized by high difficulty, substantial costs, lengthy timelines, and significant risks, compounded by complex regulatory review and approval policies. There is a long road ahead from initial R&D through clinical trial applications to the final market launch of pharmaceutical products. Consequently, demand for CRO (Contract Research Organization) services has exploded.
Data shows that the market size of clinical CRO services in China exceeded RMB 40 billion in 2019, and it will grow rapidly at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30%. The market size is expected to exceed RMB 100 billion within five years.
Large Market, Low Concentration: Fertile Ground for Nurturing Multiple Giants
The global clinical CRO market is highly concentrated, with the top 10 players (CR10) accounting for nearly 70% of the market share, having already given rise to industry giants such as IQVIA, Covance, and PPD. In contrast, China’s clinical CRO market remains highly fragmented, with the top 20 players (CR20) holding less than 20% of the market; only Tigermed boasts significant brand leadership and scalable operational capabilities. As the Chinese market rapidly expands and undergoes structural consolidation in the coming years, it is poised to foster more industry giants, thereby reshaping the competitive landscape.
Innovative Technology Application + Service Model Innovation: Innovative CROs Poised to Overtake Competitors and Emerge as New Industry Giants
Traditional CRO service models rely heavily on specialized manpower, employ rudimentary workflows, face clear bottlenecks to business growth, and yield low profitability. With the continuous advancement of modern information technology, innovative technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud computing are increasingly being applied in the field of clinical research. These technologies not only effectively enhance the efficiency of clinical trial management, shorten drug development cycles, improve the quality of clinical data, and reduce overall R&D costs, but also fundamentally transform service organizational models by reducing reliance on specialized manpower, thereby enabling more efficient and lean delivery of clinical research services.
Innovative CROs that possess both the capability to apply innovative technologies and the ability to deliver innovative service models are poised to overtake competitors on the curve and emerge as new giants amidst the wave of innovative drug development in China.
Aisha Medical, established in 2013, is an innovative contract research organization (CRO) specializing in providing clinical research and related technical services to domestic and international enterprises developing innovative drugs and medical devices. Leveraging its accumulated technological advantages and strong reputation for service excellence, Aisha Medical has successfully delivered numerous clinical research projects for innovative drugs and medical devices, established stable partnerships with many leading pharmaceutical and medical device companies, and earned widespread market recognition.
Independently developed multiple intelligent technology platforms for clinical research to achieve efficient clinical study management
Aisha Medical has independently developed multiple clinical research technology platforms, including an Intelligent Clinical Protocol Design Platform, an Intelligent Clinical Data Collection and Monitoring Platform, and an Intelligent Clinical Trial Management Platform. By deeply empowering enterprises, experts, and service teams through these technological platforms, Aisha Medical achieves online, standardized, and automated clinical research services, thereby improving trial execution efficiency and reducing research costs.
During the study protocol design phase, Aisha Medical leverages its extensive protocol library to automatically generate customized study protocols and configure Case Report Form (CRF) tables, effectively reducing50%Medical Personnel and Time Investment. During the study implementation phase, Aisha Medical leveraged intelligent internet technologies to achieve automated data collection and conversion, as well as online automated intelligent monitoring, thereby improving the timeliness of data management compared with traditional models.15times, significantly shortening the research cycle.
Reshape the service organizational structure to ensure data quality while significantly boosting service personnel efficiency.
High professional barriers, elevated labor costs, high staff turnover, and low management efficiency due to large organizational structures are significant pain points in the development of traditional Contract Research Organizations (CROs) that have long remained unresolved. By leveraging internet technologies, Aisha Medical has fully digitized, centralized, and intelligentized data collection and monitoring processes. This approach lowers the professional entry barriers for Clinical Research Coordinators (CRCs) and Clinical Research Associates (CRAs), reduces the intensity and complexity of on-site work, significantly enhances personnel productivity, expands the span of organizational management, and effectively centralizes data quality control at headquarters, thereby overcoming the bottlenecks inherent in traditional service organizations.
Strong Business Growth Momentum, with Service Capabilities Highly Recognized by the Industry
To date, Aisha Medicine has undertaken and successfully delivered over 100 new drug research service projects across multiple therapeutic areas, including liver diseases, oncology, hematological disorders, psychiatric conditions, metabolic diseases, and rare diseases. The company has also repeatedly undertaken and successfully completed national new drug research projects under the 12th and 13th Five-Year Plans. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it further completed multiple research studies on novel coronavirus pneumonia.
Over the past three years, Aisha Medical's clinical research business has experienced rapid growth, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 150%.and has established long-term, in-depth partnerships with leading industry players such as Johnson & Johnson, Gilead Sciences, Hengrui Medicine, Hansoh Pharmaceutical, Junshi Biosciences, and Innovent Biologics.
Hao Jingjing, Executive Director of Tuojin Capital, stated, “As a research paradigm inherently linked to innovative drugs and medical devices, real-world studies (RWS) have garnered widespread attention and increasing emphasis in recent years. The enactment of the 21st Century Cures Act by the U.S. Congress in 2016, followed by a series of policies and guidelines issued in China since 2019, unequivocally demonstrate global recognition and support for RWS. This trend is driven by the fact that RWS, grounded in large-scale, long-term real-world data, provides robust evidence regarding the safety and effectiveness of new drugs or devices post-market. It delivers substantial value by meeting the diverse needs of pharmaceutical companies in market education and commercial promotion, physicians in scientific research and clinical practice, and payers in assessing treatment efficacy. In China, innovative drugs and medical devices are still in an early yet rapidly ascending stage of development. Consequently, a significant number of new products currently in pre-market research will gradually reach the market, leading to a sustained and rapid growth in demand for RWS. Based on extensive reflection and observation, we have found it challenging to simultaneously achieve high-quality research outcomes and commercial benefits. However, Aisha Medical has integrated information technology and intelligent products into its CRO services, thereby overcoming the high-cost limitations of traditional CRO models while ensuring high quality in large-sample studies. From Tuojin’s perspective, this makes Aisha Medical a rare and valuable investment target. We believe that, supported by sound innovation mechanisms and business models, Aisha Medical will leverage its expertise in RWS as a strong foundation to drive broader industry innovation and development.”
Zhang Lan, Partner at Boxing Capital, stated, “The policy landscape and market dynamics of the pharmaceutical industry are undergoing significant changes. Clinical practice is placing greater emphasis on evidence of medical efficacy, while the substantial increase in new drug approvals has intensified competition, driving rapid growth in demand for post-marketing clinical research. The iShine Medical team, led by Dr. Tian Yongqian, has accumulated extensive experience in clinical research, patient management, and market promotion. Building upon traditional CRO services, the team has independently developed systems leveraging new technologies to effectively manage a large number of clinical trial centers, experts, and patients, thereby delivering high-quality and efficient clinical CRO services. We look forward to iShine Medical serving more pharmaceutical and medical device companies and benefiting a broader patient population.”