Zhejiang Intex Group and Nurotron Announce Strategic Partnership to Expand Access to Domestic Cochlear Implants for Severe Hearing Loss Patients

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that domestic cochlear implant manufacturer Nurotron has entered into a strategic partnership with Zhejiang Int’l Group. Zhejiang Provincial Medical Devices Co., Ltd., the medical device subsidiary under Zhejiang Int’l Group, will serve as the exclusive nationwide distributor for Nurotron’s products. Through this collaboration, both parties aim to expand the market for domestically produced cochlear implants and establish a comprehensive sales and after-sales service network across China. By leveraging their respective technological and resource advantages, they seek to help more patients with severe hearing impairment regain their hearing.

According to 2018 data from the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, China currently has nearly 30 million people with hearing impairment, accounting for 6% of the global hearing-impaired population. As the country with the largest number of individuals with hearing loss worldwide, China’s cochlear implantation rate remains below 3%.

Li Chu, CEO of Nurotron, mentioned in an interview that there are currently over 9 million people in China with severe hearing loss. Conservatively estimated, about 6 million of them are suitable candidates for cochlear implant surgery. However, fewer than 40,000 have opted for the procedure so far (this figure has now been updated to approximately 70,000).

Chen Shifu, Marketing Director of Zhejiang Medical Devices Co., Ltd., stated, “The cochlear implant market is growing at an annual rate of 10% and holds significant potential for future expansion. First, among the more than 10 million newborns each year, the incidence of congenital hearing impairment ranges from 1‰ to 3‰. As parental awareness and acceptance of cochlear implants continue to rise, the implantation rate is expected to increase.”

He stated that another major market potential lies in the elderly population. As the aging trend intensifies and quality of life improves, the number of elderly patients undergoing cochlear implant surgery is expected to increase. In foreign countries, elderly recipients account for more than 50% of all cochlear implant procedures, whereas in the Chinese market, they constitute only about 10%.

Previously, the cochlear implant market was dominated by companies from the United States, Australia, and Austria, with prohibitively high prices that were unaffordable for ordinary families. Nurotron’s independently developed products broke this monopoly, making it the first domestic company to obtain a Class III medical device registration certificate for cochlear implants suitable for all age groups. This achievement also successfully pressured imported products to reduce their prices, with Nurotron pricing its products at two-thirds the cost of imported alternatives. By 2018, Nurotron had captured approximately 17% of the domestic market share.

Nurotron has continuously invested hundreds of millions of yuan in product research and development. Currently, the Nurotron Enduro cochlear implant system, as Nurotron’s new-generation product, enhances speech recognition in noisy environments and improves Mandarin language recognition. The second-generation implant chip developed by Nurotron increases the sensitivity of auditory nerve response detection by tenfold and features an intelligent environmental safety feedback function for the implant, positioning it at the forefront of similar international products.

On the speech processor, GaoGe features the world’s first C-tone encoding strategy, a sound processing technology specifically developed for tonal languages such as Chinese. It delivers richer tonal information without compromising speech encoding, thereby enhancing tonal clarity.

Clinical studies have demonstrated that Nurotron cochlear implant users achieve a statistically significant 5% improvement in tone recognition when using the Easy-to-Understand strategy compared to traditional coding strategies, with a concurrent 4%-6% increase in open-set speech recognition rates.

Chen Shifu stated, “Nurotron’s products are relatively mature and comprehensive, and as a leading enterprise in the domestic cochlear implant sector, it demonstrates strong product competitiveness. This forms the basis and rationale for our decision to collaborate with Nurotron.”

In the early stages of its development, to make cochlear implant products more affordable for patients in China, Nurotron donated many devices through partnerships with charitable organizations. In terms of its business model, Nurotron primarily adopted a direct sales approach.

As Nurotron enters a new phase of corporate development, its collaboration with Zhejiang Medical Device Co., Ltd. will leverage the latter’s existing resource advantages and professional expertise to establish a comprehensive sales network, thereby better responding to market changes and strengthening corporate competitiveness.

Zhejiang Medical Devices Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Zhejiang Int'l Group Co., Ltd. (Stock Code: 000411). With a registered capital of RMB 30 million, it is one of the largest medical device wholesalers and retailers in Zhejiang Province. The company is responsible for maintaining provincial government reserves of medical devices for disaster relief, epidemic control, and emergency medical services.

The company maintains rigorous and comprehensive internal policies and procedures, supported by a professional, youthful sales management team and a scientific, systematic management mechanism. It operates as an authorized distributor for a wide range of imported and domestically produced medical devices and equipment. In terms of logistics, the company leverages Zhejiang Int’l Logistics Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of its group corporation, to provide high-quality services through a modern logistics system that integrates warehousing, inspection, storage, and distribution.

Chen Shifu said:“Our mission is to dedicate ourselves to the cause of human health and become the most trusted professional medical device company for our users. To increase market share in the early stages and enable more people to access high-performance cochlear implants, we will offer greater margin flexibility to our regional partners.”"Throughout our development, we have accumulated extensive industry resources and professional expertise, enabling us to deliver specialized services with a competitive edge."

Next, Zhejiang Medical Devices Co., Ltd. will deepen its cooperation with Nurotron, while welcoming outstanding distribution partners from across the country to join forces in making cochlear implants more affordable for families affected by severe hearing loss.