Yixu Medical Files IPO Prospectus: Leveraging NGS and Insurance Services to Empower Medication Safety and Tap into the Vast Blue Ocean of Chronic Disease Management

Image source: Official website of Yixu Medical

The human body and disease, disease and drugs, and drugs and host metabolism are interrelated.、interacting. AndPersonalized Medication and Individualized TreatmentThe essence, in fact, is to target each individualTo study thisThe Relationship Among the Three.

Disease diagnosis reveals the relationship between the human body and disease, whereas treatment planning focuses more on the relationship between disease and medication. However, individuals often exhibit varying responses to the same therapeutic regimen, primarily due to differences in individual metabolic processes and drug reactions.

Precisely. Unlike most companies that focus on oncology and the detection of tumor-targeted drugs, Yixu Medical has turned its attention to drug metabolism research.

Yixu Medical was established in March 2016. Under the guidance of Professor Hu Songnian from the Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the company has conducted multiple studies on the relationship between gene polymorphisms and drug efficacy and safety based on NGS targeted sequencing technology. By integrating hotspot genes in hypertensive patients with genes related to drug efficacy, the company aims to reveal individualized differences in drug adaptability and dosage among patients with different genotypes. Through comprehensive omics analysis of individual samples, Yixu Medical assists in guiding clinical medication.

It is understood that Yixu Medical has leveraged its two proprietary patented technologies in next-generation sequencing (NGS) to develop a series of personalized pharmacogenetic testing products tailored for patients with chronic diseases, with additional new products currently under research and development. The company aims to provide clinicians with tools and data for individualized medication by focusing on drug metabolism levels at the individual genetic level.

Zhang Yanwei, Founder and CEO of Yixu Medical, is a serial entrepreneur. In 2012, Zhang Yanwei and his team successfully organized the first Symposium on Key Technologies and Applications of NGS Library Preparation in China, pioneering the introduction of third-party library preparation technologies into the country. Wang Wenjing, Co-founder and CMO, holds a professional background in business strategic management from Germany and has many years of marketing experience in the field of immunotherapy; she is primarily responsible for market development and business expansion for the company’s projects. The other Co-founder and CIO comes from an information science background, holding a Ph.D. in Management and having conducted postdoctoral research in bioinformatics. His involvement has endowed Yixu Medical with cross-disciplinary advantages in bioinformatics analysis as well as data application and mining.

As population aging intensifies, the incidence of chronic diseases in China is increasing annually. Given its large population base, China will have more patients with chronic diseases than any other country in the world.

Taking hypertension as an example, data from the Report on the Status of National Nutrition and Chronic Diseases in 2012, released by the State Council Information Office in 2015, show that the prevalence of hypertension among Chinese adults aged 18 and above was 25.2%, with more than 300 million hypertensive patients. Hypertension is not only highly prevalent but can also lead to complications in organs such as the heart, brain, and kidneys, posing a serious threat to human health.

With the advancement of modern medicine and improvements in medical technology, chronic diseases may become the final health challenge facing humanity. Chronic conditions, exemplified by the “three highs” (hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia), are long-term, persistent illnesses; once diagnosed, the vast majority of patients may require lifelong medication. Therefore, for this population, the safety and cost-effectiveness of medications have become primary concerns during treatment.

Guided by these considerations, Yixu Medical identified chronic disease management—beyond oncology and NIPT—as a vast blue-ocean market from its inception. Furthermore, as co-founder Wang Wenjing is herself a victim of adverse drug reactions, the team became even more convinced that pharmacogenomics-based chronic disease management represents a highly valuable application direction.

In early 2016, several individuals left their previous companies one after another and co-founded Yixu Medical.

“Tumor detection products are currently the most sought-after in the market, after all, cancer is what people fear most,” said Zhang Yanwei. “At the same time, the tumor market has already become a red ocean. Chronic disease management is different; this market is vast, and with the right entry point, it is worth cultivating intensively.”

On October 23, 2016, Yixu Medical held a project launch event in Beijing themed “Focusing on Chronic Disease Management for Hypertension,” and officially released its personalized pharmacogenetic testing product for chronic diseases associated with the “three highs” (hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia). The report covers individual metabolic responses to more than 40 commonly used clinical medications, including five major classes of antihypertensive drugs, as well as drugs for lowering blood glucose and lipids, anticoagulation, antiplatelet aggregation, arrhythmia management, and pain relief, among other cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease-related therapies.

In the current market for health management-oriented genetic testing, products focused on genetic risk assessment constitute the vast majority. However, these products only screen for susceptibility genes, with results indicating the likelihood of disease onset rather than providing follow-up intervention strategies. For consumers, this fails to meet the needs of chronic disease management and does not offer sticky, value-added services.

“Looking back, why is NIPT a good product? Because it provides doctors and patients with clear answers and offers valuable guidance for post-test treatment processes. Consumers are more receptive to solutions with clear applicability and necessity,” said Wang Wenjing. “This is precisely where personalized pharmacogenomic testing resembles NIPT, except that our focus is on chronic disease patients who require long-term use of multiple medications. The test results can immediately guide their daily medication regimens and disease management.”

“Furthermore, we have observed that some companies engage in closed-door product development, resulting in products that are largely disconnected from clinical needs. Such products struggle to gain clinical acceptance.” She added, “In addition to involving genomics experts, Yixu Medical’s product development process also engages renowned domestic clinical medicine and clinical pharmacy experts in discussions and validation to ensure the accuracy and practicality of its test reports.”

However, is simply obtaining a genetic testing report sufficient to meet patients’ needs? Not really. After receiving the report, patients still require professional interpretation and prescription adjustment services. Furthermore, once patients undergo personalized medication management, their drug responses and disease progression must be documented and monitored.

Based on these considerations, Yixu Medical has partnered with dozens of renowned Grade A tertiary hospitals across China to implement a precision medication project for chronic diseases, providing point-to-point clinical individualized medication services to patients. Additionally, the company has developed a consultation data platform with follow-up capabilities, offering physicians an information channel and efficiency tool for recording and tracking patient conditions.

Leveraging its genetic testing products and consultation-follow-up system, Yixu Medical has established a proprietary specialized database comprising three main categories of data: first, individual sequencing data, which reveals the relationship between genotypes and drug responses through sequencing; second, clinical medication data, including information on which medications are used for specific diseases, as well as variations in individual efficacy, dosage, and adverse reactions across different drugs; and third, follow-up data, capturing changes in disease progression and medication regimens, prescription adjustments, and individual responses following medication changes. Genomic analysis involves integrating these three types of data to perform correlation analyses and validate existing findings.

As the sample size increases and continuous data validation is performed through machine learning, Yixu Medical’s precision medication prescription decision system will become increasingly accurate, potentially uncovering high-frequency mutations specific to the Chinese population during this process. Yixu Medical’s vision is to build a pharmacogenomics database for the Chinese people and map out China’s genetic landscape for chronic disease medication.

On October 27, 2017, marking the first anniversary of its product launch, Beijing Yixu Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (Yixu Medical) joined forces with Beijing Chaoyang Hospital to initiate the Research and Application Project on Precision Medication for Patients with Chronic Diseases in China. The project has already secured collaborative agreements with 24 large Grade A tertiary hospitals across 14 provinces and municipalities. Serving as regional research centers for this initiative, these hospitals will facilitate the participation of other local institutions, thereby expanding the sample size and extending the benefits of precision medication to a broader population of patients with chronic diseases.

In May 2017, Yixu Medical, in partnership with ZhongAn Insurance, launched China’s first liability insurance for pharmacogenomic testing, alleviating physicians’ concerns about using genetic test reports to guide clinical medication. In February 2018, Yixu Medical collaborated with Hexie Health Insurance to introduce China’s first health insurance product for precision medication in chronic disease management. Apparently, the company has a particular preference for the “genetics + insurance” model.

“Medical services and health insurance are a natural pairing.” Discussing this point, Wang Wenjing remarked, “The mutually incentivizing relationship between healthcare and insurance is prevalent worldwide; the difference lies in whether it is driven by insurers or by the healthcare system. We hope to leverage this combination to bring commercial insurance closer to medical services.”

As non-standard risks, individuals with chronic diseases are frequently denied coverage by commercial insurers, placing the entire burden of medical expenditures on public health insurance. Yixu Medical’s precision medication initiative not only enhances cost containment within public health insurance through rational medication management but also integrates commercial insurance into chronic disease management to effectively complement social security, thereby controlling chronic conditions and preventing severe complications.

“Our original intention was to establish a system for personalized precision medication and chronic disease management, control adverse drug reactions and medication costs, improve clinical treatment outcomes and patients’ quality of life, thereby reducing healthcare insurance expenditures,” added Zhang Yanwei.

For individuals with chronic diseases, managing these conditions will gradually become a way of life. Personalized precision medication can improve quality of life through rational drug use and effectively address a series of issues arising during the medication process.

The inclusion of commercial insurance has enabled patients with chronic diseases to obtain a certain level of insurance coverage, while also providing a reference for self-management. For insurance companies, this allows them to accumulate data on strict medication adherence and disease progression management during the process. Based on these data, they can design new models in the future to reduce the claim ratio in commercial insurance operations.

For Yixu Medical, this enables the creation of a closed-loop chronic disease management service based on precision medication, helping patients more effectively achieve “chronic disease control and prevention of major illnesses.”

“Unlike traditional health insurance products, where most insurers offer indemnity-based policies with health management merely as a value-added service—making it difficult to align closely with clinical practice and gain patient recognition—the chronic disease health insurance we are co-developing with insurance companies is structured differently. It is built first on precise medication testing, clinical data, and follow-up management, with insurance then stepping in to cover part of the payment process,” said Wang Wenjing. “This approach shifts consumers’ focus from the amount of claims reimbursement to their health status throughout disease management. For commercial insurance, this attempt represents a return to the essential principle of ‘insurance safeguarding health.’”

In this process, the involvement of commercial insurance will make the chronic disease management ecosystem more diversified and gradually maximize product value.

In 2018, Yixu Medical’s strategic focus was on rapidly expanding its sample size while increasing its market share. The company aimed not only to promote the widespread adoption of rational medication use for chronic diseases but also to advance the marketization of chronic disease management and health insurance. To achieve this, the company would recruit a large number of partner hospitals and experts through clinical research initiatives and establish promotional channels via a B2B2C collaboration model.

While continuously expanding sample sizes and data volumes, Yixu will accelerate the AI-driven development of its software systems, continually validating and enhancing the accuracy and usability of its Precision Medication Prescription Decision Support System. The company aims to support rational medication management for chronic diseases in primary care settings through software tools, replicating expert expertise via data systems to more institutions, extending services to remote areas, and benefiting a broader patient population.

It is reported that the company's first round of financing is currently underway.