WeDoctor and Boehringer Ingelheim Forge Strategic Partnership to Advance Digital Specialty Disease Consortium and Upgrade Chronic Disease Management

On November 7, at the second China International Import Expo, Boehringer Ingelheim, a global leading multinational pharmaceutical company, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with WeDoctor Group, a digital health platform. The partnership focuses on the treatment and management of chronic diseases, jointly promoting innovation in digital healthcare to benefit more doctors and patients.

Data show that, with economic development and the accelerating pace of life, the number of people with chronic diseases in China has reached approximately 300 million. The recently issued “Healthy China Action (2019–2030)” explicitly launches prevention and control initiatives targeting four major chronic diseases—cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes—to address this severe public health challenge.

Since its establishment in 2010, WeDoctor Group has built Guahaowang, the largest appointment-based diagnosis and treatment platform in China, and pioneered the new business model of internet hospitals. Currently, it is extensively implementing across China a Digital Health Community supported by digital health platforms. This initiative connects medical institutions at the municipal, county, township, and village levels, and integrates healthcare services, pharmaceuticals, medical insurance, and elderly care. The goal is to improve regional medical standards and public health outcomes while curbing the growth rate of medical insurance expenditures.

At the World Internet Conference held this October, WeDoctor Group officially launched its Specialized Disease Health Community, with the participation and witness of 20 domestic and international pharmaceutical companies, including Novo Nordisk, Boehringer Ingelheim, Qilu Pharmaceutical, Chia Tai Tianqing, BeiGene, and Harbin Pharmaceutical Group. Supported by a digital platform, the Specialized Disease Health Community integrates supply-side resources such as chronic disease services. Through standardized diagnosis and treatment systems and specialized disease management tools, it provides insurance-covered specialized disease (including chronic disease) services to residents in cities, counties, townships, and villages. This initiative effectively enhances regional disease management capabilities, improves disease awareness and treatment rates, reduces complications, and substantially alleviates the financial burden on local medical insurance funds and patients’ out-of-pocket expenses for medical care and medications.

The specialized disease-focused healthcare consortium will be the core strategic direction for WeDoctor Group in the future. Leveraging its healthcare supply consortium, WeDoctor Group will collaborate with Boehringer Ingelheim across multiple areas, including internet-based healthcare, pharmaceutical distribution, disease management, and patient-provider education. This partnership aims to fully integrate medical services with pharmaceuticals, ensuring both high-quality treatment plans for patients and a stable supply of medications. It is understood that this collaboration covers Boehringer Ingelheim’s leading medications across all chronic disease therapeutic areas, such as Spiriva, Spiolto, and Combivent (for chronic pulmonary diseases); Micardis and Twynsta (for hypertension); Pradaxa, Jardiance, and Glyxambi (for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes); and Sifrol (for Parkinson’s disease).

In addition, WeDoctor Group will collaborate with major domestic and international enterprises to leverage their respective expertise in “Internet-based patient–provider education.” It is reported that, as of September 2019, the WeDoctor platform had 200 million real-name registered users, connecting more than 3,200 hospitals across 30 provinces in China and over 300,000 physicians. Going forward, both parties will jointly advance efforts to disseminate the most advanced international diagnostic and therapeutic concepts to more healthcare professionals, and to deliver accurate science-based information on disease prevention and management to patients with chronic conditions and their families.

Feng Naide, Head of Human Pharmaceuticals at Boehringer Ingelheim Greater China, stated that the company is engaging in comprehensive collaboration with its strategic partners in China. Through digital innovation and empowerment, it aims to provide patients not only with innovative treatment solutions but also with new models of health management.