Full Analysis: Which Internet Healthcare Segments Will Attract the Most Investment? (Made in China 2025)
Over the past fifteen years, China’s BAT has been dominant. Some argue that the future will no longer belong to them, but rather to new possibilities arising from “Internet Plus” across the entire industry.
Therefore, Chinese policymakers recognized this trend and swiftly released the "Made in China 2025" plan as a strategic counterpart. The plan clearly defined the development directions and objectives for ten key sectors, including the next-generation information technology industry. Among these, three sectors are primarily relevant to internet healthcare: high-end CNC machine tools and robotics, new materials, and biopharmaceuticals and high-performance medical devices.
Its recently updated “Technology Roadmap for Key Fields of Made in China 2025” analyzes and outlines each key development area across five dimensions: demand, objectives, development priorities, application demonstration priorities, and strategic support and safeguards, thereby forming detailed technology roadmaps spanning from 2015 to 2025, with an outlook toward 2030.
VCBeat has excerpted sections related to internet healthcare. Which areas will become hotspots in the future? And are you operating in these fields?
Service Robots and Related Sensor Technologies
Robots are broadly categorized into two main types: industrial robots used in manufacturing environments and service robots used in non-manufacturing environments. Among these, service robots are further divided, based on their application settings, into personal/domestic service robots for household use or direct human assistance, and professional service robots for specialized environments.
In recent years, China's robotics market has experienced rapid development. Beyond the swift growth of industrial robots, various models of service robots for elderly and disability care, disaster relief and rescue, and public safety have begun to enter demonstration applications.
"Made in China 2025" outlines the expected goal: to achieve small-batch production and application of service robots in fields such as elderly care, rehabilitation, social services, and disaster relief.
Focus on developing robots for consumer service sectors such as elderly care and disability assistance, as well as specialized robots including medical rehabilitation robots and rescue robots.
Notably, in the field of key components, priority should be given to the development of sensors for joint position, torque, vision, touch, photosensitivity, high-frequency measurement, and optoelectronic displacement, so as to meet the application demands of China’s robotics industry.
In the research and application demonstration project for service robot technologies, priority support is given to the development of social public service robots for medical care, rehabilitation, elderly care, disability assistance, and emergency rescue.
Next-Generation Biomedical Materials
Advanced basic materials refer to new materials that possess excellent properties, have broad application areas and a large market scale, and enable “one material, multiple uses.”
The challenges faced include: large scale but lack of strength; overall overcapacity; unreasonable product structure; and incomplete self-sufficiency in high-end application areas. There is an urgent need to develop advanced basic materials that are high-performance, differentiated, and functionalized.
Key next-generation biomedical materials under development, including:
(1) Regenerative Medicine Products
Develop 5–10 types of bioactive materials for tissue regeneration and repair in bone, skin, nerve, and other tissues, achieving an annual production scale of RMB 5 billion for high-end regenerative medicine products.
(2) Functional Implantable/Interventional Products
Develop 5–10 biomedical materials for clinical applications in cardiovascular care, artificial joints, dental implants, and vision restoration, with an annual production scale of high-end functional implantable/interventional products reaching RMB 3 billion.
Biological 3D Printing Technology and Four Types of High-Performance Medical Devices
Biopharmaceuticals refer to the collective term for products and systemic technologies based on biotechnology, used for disease prevention and treatment as well as healthcare. This category includes gene therapies, monoclonal antibody/protein drugs, vaccines, small-molecule chemical drugs, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
Requirements Faced:
Entering an aging society;
Weaknesses in independently developed products;
We will focus on exploring the applications of bio-3D printing technology in drug screening, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. Leveraging bio-3D printing technology, and integrating macromolecular drugs, novel modified immune cell therapies, stem cells, and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, we aim to develop 10–20 therapeutic products for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
There are five categories of key generic technologies:
（1）Novel Drug Target Discovery and Validation Technologies Based on Disease Target Networks and Reverse Molecular Docking
Construct computational models of cellular signaling networks for diseases to describe the dynamic network changes during disease onset and progression; perform virtual molecular screening, docking, and validation to determine the efficacy of candidate drugs for specific disease subtypes; ultimately identify effective novel targets, thereby enabling innovative drug discovery targeting dynamic networks.
（2）Cell- and Target-Based Pharmacokinetics and the Integrated PK/PD/Toxicity Triad for Druggability Assessment
By leveraging human-derived cell lines and humanized animal models, and integrating the molecular pathological mechanisms of the target, establish PK-PD and TK-TD models to strengthen the integrated druggability assessment encompassing pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and toxicity.
（3）New Technologies for the Development of Innovative Biotechnological Drugs, Including Antibodies, Proteins, Peptides, Nucleic Acids, and Immune Cell Therapies Based on Novel Targets, Structures, or Functions
Develop an antibody preparation technology system that breaks through the synergistic enhancement of functions targeting the same epitope; advance ADC antibody drug screening technology systems and large-scale production and quality control technologies for bispecific antibody drugs; strengthen the development of sustained-release platforms based on nanotechnology and 3D printing for protein and peptide drugs, and overcome key technical barriers in the druggability research of protein therapeutics; prepare gene therapy vectors/delivery systems with low immunogenicity, high targeting specificity, non-toxicity, and high efficiency.
（4）A series of characteristic, shared key new technologies based on drug delivery systems such as magnetic targeted drug delivery and related drug delivery technologies
Advance the development of drug delivery systems toward intelligent, precise, controlled-release, and targeted directions. Construct novel environment-responsive delivery systems, develop magnetic-targeted drug release systems and related drug delivery technologies, and enhance drug performance and therapeutic efficacy.
（5）A Common Technology Framework for Precision Medicine Based on Individual Genetic Information and Molecular Biomarkers
Develop drugs based on individualized specific molecular markers, and establish a technical system ranging from genetic testing to personalized precision immunotherapy.
Medical devices refer to the equipment, apparatus, materials, and products applied throughout the entire lifecycle of healthcare and health protection. High-performance medical devices generally refer to those that can meet higher clinical requirements in terms of function and performance among similar medical devices. Their development holds strategic significance for meeting clinical needs and driving the growth of the entire medical device industry.
In the field of high-performance medical devices, over 90% of products are from foreign brands, which is one of the reasons for the high cost of healthcare in China.
2020 Industrial Development Goals:
Annual industrial scale reaches 600 billion;
The market share of domestically produced mid-to-high-end medical devices in county-level hospitals reached 50%;
The market share of domestically produced core components in the Chinese domestic market reaches 60%;
China has established more than five platforms for the engineering of scientific and technological achievements and collaborative innovation centers;
Establish 20 demonstration application bases;
Establish more than three internationally renowned brands.
2025 Industry Development Goals:
Annual industry scale reaches 1.2 trillion yuan;
The market share of domestically produced mid-to-high-end medical devices in county-level hospitals has reached 70%;
The market share of domestically produced core components in the domestic market reaches 80%;
More than 10 national platforms for the engineering commercialization of scientific and technological achievements and collaborative innovation centers have been established across China;
Establish six provincial-level industrial clusters with an annual output value exceeding RMB 100 billion each;
Establish 30 demonstration application bases;
Establish more than five internationally renowned brands in each major product category.
There are four categories:
（1）Medical Imaging Equipment
3T and above superconducting magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, open superconducting MRI systems, 128-slice X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanners, positron emission tomography/X-ray computed tomography (PET-CT) scanners, integrated positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET-MRI) systems, color Doppler ultrasound diagnostic equipment (with 128 or more physical channels), miniature ultrasound diagnostic equipment, digital subtraction angiography (DSA) systems, X-ray phase-contrast imaging devices, electrical impedance tomography devices, magnetoencephalography (MEG) devices, and other novel imaging equipment.
（2）Clinical Laboratory Equipment
High-throughput clinical laboratory equipment, rapid point-of-care testing (POCT), integrated and total laboratory automation (TLA) workflow analysis systems, molecular diagnostic equipment, automated microbiology detection systems, high-resolution microscopic optical imaging systems, etc.
（3）Advanced Therapeutic Equipment
Large-scale heavy ion/proton tumor therapy systems, image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) equipment, high-definition electronic endoscopes, high-resolution confocal endoscopes, digital minimally invasive and interventional surgical systems, surgical robots, anesthesia workstations, adaptive mode ventilators, electrosurgical instruments, intraoperative imaging equipment, neuromodulation products such as deep brain stimulators and vagus nerve stimulators, digital integrated operating rooms, bioresorbable vascular stents, orthopedic and dental implants, foldable intraocular lenses, etc.
（4）Health Monitoring, Telemedicine, and Rehabilitation Devices
Intelligent rehabilitation assistive devices, computer-aided rehabilitation therapy equipment, screening devices for major diseases, common diseases, and chronic diseases, health monitoring products (including wearables), health big data and the Health Internet of Things (HIoT), telemedicine, and related standards.
Key generic technologies include:
（1）Reliability Assurance Technology
Including reliability analysis, computer simulation, reliability testing technologies for software, hardware, and mechanical systems, and electromagnetic compatibility-related technologies.
（2）Health Internet Technologies and Standards
Study the standard system for health internet, establish relevant standards in a hierarchical and step-by-step manner, and develop the necessary technical conditions for testing and test methods.
（3）Health Big Data Technology
Establishment and Management of Health Databases: Big Data-Based Analytical Techniques and Standards for Behavioral Guidance in Health Management.
（4）Medical Additive Manufacturing Technology (3D Printing Technology)
Implantable materials and surface modification technologies suitable for 3D printing, carbon nanomaterial and graphene-based biomedical material technologies, and comprehensive solutions for personalized manufacturing, including diagnostic testing, computer-aided design (CAD), and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technologies.
Mainly focused on:
The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region Innovative Medical Device Cluster
Yangtze River Delta Advanced Medical Device Cluster
Pearl River Delta Digital Medical Device Cluster
From the perspective of the internet healthcare sector, the central theme is that innovation-driven development must be strengthened, with the prerequisite being the selection of the right domains. Furthermore, internet companies must integrate with traditional brick-and-mortar enterprises. Otherwise, even after ten, twenty, thirty, or even a hundred years, they will remain conventional internet companies and conventional traditional enterprises. Rest assured, the government will facilitate development by establishing organizational frameworks, guiding capital flows, and opening up markets. So, have you chosen the right domain?
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