Bayer and Jianke Launch Strategic Partnership to Expand Chronic Disease Patient Care Program and Broaden Doctor-Patient Engagement Scenarios

On October 23, Bayer, a renowned international pharmaceutical company, and Jianke, a leading domestic online health and smart healthcare service platform, reached a strategic cooperation intention. Both parties will fully leverage their respective advantages in the fields of pharmaceutical healthcare and internet-based medical services, with a focus on creating a chronic disease patient care program. Cooperation will be carried out in areas such as drug traceability, smart healthcare, chronic disease management, patient education, physician education, grassroots benefit projects, and medical big data, exploring integrated pharmaceutical and healthcare services including medication safety and doctor-patient education, thereby bringing benefits to the large population of chronic disease patients in China. On the same day, the two parties held a strategic signing ceremony in Beijing. Zhang Jingchuan, National Retail Management Director of Bayer’s Prescription Drug Division, and Xie Fangmin, CEO of Jianke, jointly signed the strategic cooperation agreement.

According to the latest statistical data from the National Health and Family Planning Commission, China currently has nearly 300 million patients with chronic diseases, with an annual increase of 10 million. China has entered a period of high prevalence of chronic diseases and is home to the world’s largest population of chronic disease patients. The disease burden attributable to chronic conditions accounts for nearly 70% of the total disease burden, while deaths caused by these conditions represent approximately 85% of all fatalities. As chronic diseases have become the leading threat to public health in China, it is imperative to promote effective chronic disease management.

With the successive release of the Outline of the Healthy China 2030 Plan and the Medium- and Long-Term Plan for the Prevention and Control of Chronic Diseases in China (2017–2025), the prevention and control as well as management of chronic diseases have rapidly assumed a position of critical importance. Therefore, strengthening comprehensive management of chronic diseases, prioritizing the control of risk factors, and facilitating the transition from disease treatment to health management are key to this effort.

To this end, Bayer’s Prescription Drugs Division has joined forces with Guangdong Jianke Medicine Co., Ltd. to respond to national policies and jointly explore innovative chronic disease management models. This collaboration aims to achieve complementary advantages and multi-party win-win outcomes, thereby contributing to the national goal of “significantly improving the environment for chronic disease prevention and control by 2020 and reducing premature mortality caused by chronic diseases.”

According to reports, under this collaboration, both parties will leverage their respective strengths to fully capitalize on patient clinical encounters by establishing and updating health records, conducting health education and online follow-up for chronic diseases, promoting healthy lifestyles and chronic disease interventions, thereby enhancing the quality of chronic disease management programs.

It is worth noting that the Chronic Disease Patient Care Program developed by both parties differs significantly from traditional physician-led patient management. Traditional doctors adopt a passive approach, where patients seek care only when ill, and there is minimal interaction during periods of wellness. In contrast, the mission of the Chronic Disease Patient Care Program is to effectively manage users’ health. Therefore, the collaborative project leverages internet-based technologies and tools to proactively engage with patients, enabling real-time monitoring of medication adherence and other factors, thereby facilitating timely adjustments to diagnosis and treatment plans. During the course of receiving diagnostic and therapeutic services from online physicians, each user will establish an electronic health record and receive a personalized health improvement plan.

Many Chinese people’s lifestyle and dietary habits can lead to the development of chronic diseases. However, the Chronic Disease Patient Care Program, a collaboration between Bayer’s Prescription Drug Division and Jianke, regularly pushes physician-patient educational content and consultation services to patients, enabling early intervention.

It is understood that the collaboration between the two parties will initially focus on chronic disease management for diabetes. By leveraging Bayer’s accumulated expertise in this therapeutic area, and relying on Jianke’s suite of services—including its internet hospital, chronic disease management platform, online prescription circulation, and home delivery of medications—the partnership will integrate Bayer’s professional pharmaceutical resources to provide patients with a novel care experience featuring “remote follow-up consultations and home delivery of prescribed medications.”

Through the platform, patients can engage in online consultations with professional diabetes specialists. Physicians can monitor patients’ blood glucose levels via the platform, enabling them to develop more targeted glycemic management plans based on changes in the patient’s condition, such as medication guidance and postprandial blood glucose management. This approach significantly improves patients’ medication adherence and facilitates better long-term glycemic control.

“The core of chronic disease management is not the physician, not the pharmacy, and not the rehabilitation specialist; rather, it is the patient themselves. This is because patients with chronic diseases are often reluctant to engage in self-management. Excluding genetic factors, the development of chronic diseases is largely attributable to issues in their previous lifestyle and self-management practices,” stated Zhang Jingchuan, National Retail Management Director of Bayer’s Prescription Drug Division. As an innovative life sciences company with a history spanning over 150 years, Bayer has been actively exploring breakthroughs and innovations in China, particularly in patient-centric management models. This commitment represents a primary motivation for partnering with internet healthcare companies such as Jianke. Through this strategic collaboration, Bayer aims to leverage Jianke’s internet technologies not only to improve medication accessibility but also to transform chronic disease management by shifting the focus from treatment-oriented care to prevention-oriented services and scenarios.

At the conference, Xie Fangmin, CEO of Jianke, stated that as a domestic online smart healthcare service platform, Jianke can effectively support Bayer in enhancing its chronic disease management services through their partnership. According to reports, Jianke has accumulated extensive experience in chronic disease management. As early as 2017, Jianke began establishing its chronic disease management system, focusing on specialized areas such as liver disease, diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and asthma, while attempting to build an internet hospital platform. In subsequent business development, Jianke continuously expanded its range of specialized conditions, basically forming an internet hospital business characterized by chronic disease services.

“The uniqueness of internet healthcare lies in the fact that no two cases are standardized, and treatment plans vary from patient to patient,” emphasized Xie Fangmin, CEO of Jianke. The AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment system, independently developed by Jianke’s technical team, enables physicians to serve patients more rapidly, promptly, and comprehensively. Moreover, compared with other companies in the industry, Jianke’s AI research methodologies and application scenarios are more practice-oriented. Leveraging artificial intelligence technology, both parties can accurately generate user profiles for patient populations across different medical departments and update electronic health records for chronic disease management in real time. This enhances the efficiency of online follow-up consultations provided by virtual family doctors. Furthermore, our big data resources can be shared with partner pharmaceutical companies, facilitating their feedback on the efficacy of new drugs.