SPH Health Commerce Secures RMB 1.112 Billion in Series A Funding and Launches E-commerce Brand 'Yi Yao'
[Today's Highlights]
Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Cloud Health Secures RMB 1.1 Billion in Series A Financing, Simultaneously Launches E-commerce Brand “Yi Yao”
Opinions of the State Council on Reforming the Review and Approval System for Drugs and Medical Devices;
Israeli medical device company Integrity Applications is seeking FDA clearance for its non-invasive blood glucose monitoring device;
Medidata Partners with Validic to Expand Mobile Health Ecosystem;
By 2024, the global market share for growth hormone deficiency will grow to $1.88 billion;
1. Shanghai Pharma Cloud Health Secures RMB 1.1 Billion in Series A Funding, Simultaneously Launches E-commerce Brand “Yiyao”
On the evening of August 18, Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Group Co., Ltd. issued an announcement stating that its subsidiary, Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Health Cloud Commerce Co., Ltd., had completed its Series A financing round, raising a total of RMB 1.112 billion from investors including Shanghai Pharmaceuticals, JD.com, and IDG Capital.
Meanwhile, Shanghai Pharma Cloud Health has simultaneously launched its business brand—Yi Yao. As an exclusive independent brand in the e-commerce sector, “Yi Yao” will fully leverage the brand strengths of Shanghai Pharma and JD.com to target the pharmaceutical e-commerce market, focusing on providing convenient “one-stop” medication purchasing and value-added health services for patients with special and chronic diseases.
In the near future, the “Yiyao APP” and its associated WeChat service account will also be launched. Patients can purchase medications through the app and WeChat account. Additionally, they can access a range of value-added services, including charitable assistance, doctor-patient communication, and health information.
2. Opinions of the State Council on Reforming the Review and Approval System for Drugs and Medical Devices
On the morning of August 18, 2015, the State Council officially released the “Opinions on Reforming the Review and Approval System for Drugs and Medical Devices.” The Opinions set forth five major objectives, twelve specific tasks, and four safeguard measures for reforming the review and approval system for drugs and medical devices.
It is reported that with the rapid development of China’s healthcare industry, research and development of drugs and medical devices has been highly active. Annual submissions for drug registration applications have exceeded 6,500, while those for medical device registration have surpassed 10,000, with both figures increasing year by year. These volumes far exceed the current review capacity, resulting in a serious backlog of nearly 17,000 drug registration applications, which continues to rise.
3. Israeli medical device company Integrity Applications is seeking FDA clearance for its non-invasive blood glucose monitoring device
The GlucoTrack device enables users to monitor blood glucose levels without the need for blood sampling. Users simply wear the device on their ear, where it utilizes combined sensors to measure blood glucose levels and transmit the data to a handheld device. Additionally, the ear clip requires calibration every six months, a process that does involve blood sampling.
The device has already obtained regulatory approvals in several other countries, but it will take some time before it can be introduced to the U.S. market. The company has submitted its application documents to the FDA and plans to conduct clinical trials in the United States.
4. Medidata Partners with Validic to Expand Mobile Health Ecosystem
Recently, Medidata, a global leader in cloud solutions for life sciences clinical research, and Validic, a leading digital health platform in the healthcare industry, announced a partnership to advance connectivity and innovation in clinical research by expanding access to patient-generated data from consumer-grade and medical-grade mobile health devices and applications.
Notably, several months ago, Medidata strengthened its collaboration with the Peking University Clinical Research Institute (PUCRI) to optimize local drug development by enhancing the operational efficiency and speed of clinical trials.
5. By 2024, the global market share for growth hormone deficiency will grow to $1.88 billion
According to forecasts by the research and consulting firm GlobalData, the global market share for growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is projected to grow from $1.26 billion in 2014 to $1.88 billion in 2024, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.08%.
The report also highlights that the countries with significant market share growth mainly include the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Japan, driven primarily by the launch of long-acting growth hormone biobetters. Among these, this improved biopharmaceutical is expected to be approved for market release in 2017.
Text | Wang Yuehan