WeDoctor and Lihe Medical Forge Landmark Partnership to Launch China's First Intelligent Medical Supply Chain and Procurement Platform

On July 9, 2018, WeDoctor Holdings Limited (“WeDoctor”) and Lihuo Medical Group Co., Ltd. (“Lihuo Medical”) signed an agreement in Hong Kong to announce the establishment of WeDoctor Lihuo Medical China Co., Ltd. (“WeDoctor Lihuo”). The new company will promote the development of China’s first intelligent medical supply chain solution and procurement platform.

WeDoctor and Li & Fung Group’s Lihé Healthcare Signed a Contract in Hong Kong, Announcing the Establishment of WeDoctor Lihé Healthcare China LimitedSi

Victor Fung, Chairman of the Fung Group; Liao Shenhong, Secretary of the Changting County Committee of the Communist Party of China; Dr. David Cheng, CEO and Co-founder of Life Healthcare; and Liao Jieyuan, Chairman and CEO of WeDoctor, attended the signing ceremony. Also present were representatives from Ruiyi Company, a smart healthcare industrial organization planning to establish operations in Changting, Fujian, as well as the head of WeDoctor Shengjie Technology (China). VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) witnessed the entire event and reported on it.

On the day of signing, WeDoctor Lihe entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with the People’s Government of Changting County, Fujian Province, to promote the establishment of the China Tingzhou Medical Device Innovation Platform. The platform aims to create an innovative channel for medical devices and consumables in technology transfer, license application, industrial implementation, investment, and capital market docking, thereby attracting and supporting the landing of innovative domestic and international medical device products in Changting.

Under this agreement, WeDoctor and Lihe Medical will leverage their complementary advantages, innovative resources, and networks to connect medical device manufacturers, service providers, hospitals, and care institutions. They will conduct centralized procurement of medical equipment, consumables, and services through an online centralized procurement platform, and provide users of the supply chain procurement platform with medical logistics services, supply chain management services, and other value-added services.

The establishment of this platform will help advance the comprehensive reform of urban hospitals in China, establish and improve the pharmaceutical supply guarantee system, explore transparent centralized procurement reforms for medical devices and consumables in healthcare institutions, and promote the healthy development of the medical industry. BMI Research, a research arm of the international rating agency Fitch, stated in its “China Medical Device Report (Q3 2018)” that the medical device market is expected to grow from $21.5 billion in 2017 to $39 billion in 2022, with online solutions playing a significant role in the development of China’s healthcare industry.

WeDoctor Lihe will transform China’s current fragmented, multi-tiered distribution model for medical devices and consumables by managing and optimizing the overall healthcare supply chain. Additionally, the company will establish a medical education and training institute in China to provide and promote medical products alongside clinical education, accredited medical training courses, and medical education lectures for doctors, nurses, and the broader healthcare community.

Li & Fung Healthcare, a subsidiary of the Li & Fung Group, is Asia’s leading and largest integrated healthcare supply chain solutions provider. The company employs 1,600 staff members, including 700 experienced frontline sales representatives, product specialists, and clinical application specialists, as well as 300 professional biomedical technology engineers who provide installation and maintenance services.

Lihe Healthcare operates a comprehensive distribution and value-added services network across Asia, representing over 200 global medical device and consumable brands, including GE HealthCare, Philips, MAQUET, TRUMPF, Hill-Rom, Hamilton Medical, Biosensors International, Biotronik, Smiths Medical, Teleflex, and Ansell, serving more than 10,000 healthcare institutions.

Zheng Youde, CEO and Co-founder of Lihe Medical, stated, “The joint venture delivers significant strategic value to China’s healthcare industry and will generate substantial social and economic benefits for the Chinese public. WeMed is our ideal partner in developing and promoting an intelligent, open online-to-offline (O2O) healthcare platform. Together, we will provide a transparent, open, and value-based procurement system. Through this unique collaboration, both parties are committed to simplifying and modernizing the distribution model for medical devices and consumables in China, thereby making healthcare services more affordable for people across mainland China.”

WeDoctor, a Tencent-backed company, is China’s leading healthcare technology platform. Currently, WeDoctor operates four core business segments: WeDoctor Care, WeDoctor Cloud, WeDoctor Insurance, and WeDoctor Pharmacy. It integrates general practice and specialized medical services, establishing a seamlessly connected online-to-offline healthcare service system.

By leveraging technologies such as the internet, big data, and artificial intelligence, WeDoctor has connected more than 2,700 hospitals and 240,000 doctors in China, and established its own chain of offline WeDoctor General Practice Centers, providing convenient, high-quality, and continuous healthcare services to 160 million real-name registered users on its platform.

At the signing ceremony, Liao Jieyuan, Chairman and CEO of WeDoctor, stated, “China’s healthcare industry is a booming market that is undergoing rapid changes and unprecedented reforms. This collaboration represents a significant initiative by WeDoctor to enhance the efficiency of the supply chain within China’s healthcare service system, as well as to improve the quality of medical and health services and user experience on the WeDoctor platform. I am highly optimistic that this partnership will help provide more accessible, affordable, and high-quality healthcare services to China’s vast population.”

In conclusion, Victor Fung, Chairman of the Fung Group, summarized: “Since 2011, the Fung Group has been expanding its healthcare business in Southeast Asia through LF Healthcare. Today, we are delighted to establish a new partnership with WeDoctor, extending our operations into China, a market with immense growth potential.”