Healthway and Sanofi Launch First Mobile Healthcare Platform for Chronic Disease Patients in County-Level China

On May 13, Jiankang Zhilu announced a strategic partnership with Sanofi to jointly build a health management and doctor-patient communication platform.

Following Baidu’s $60 million strategic investment in Jiankang Zhilu in February 2015, the company significantly accelerated its strategic layout.

Sanofi is a global leader in diversified healthcare, dedicated to researching, developing, and promoting innovative treatments based on patient needs. Its decision to partner with Health Road among numerous domestic internet healthcare companies was primarily driven by a shared commitment to patient-centric service and recognition of Health Road’s offline service capabilities.

Both parties aim to integrate Jiankang Zhilu’s expertise in the design, development, and operation of online doctor-patient communication platforms with Sanofi’s extensive knowledge and experience accumulated over many years in the fields of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. This integration will be incorporated into the design planning and development implementation of this interactive platform, thereby launching mobile health products that better meet the needs of both doctors and patients.

Internet Healthcare Companies Pursue Grassroots Partnerships to Tap into Primary Care Physician Resources

Recently, the State Council issued the "Implementation Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting the Comprehensive Reform of County-level Public Hospitals." In recent years, healthcare reform documents from governments at all levels have also emphasized the comprehensive enhancement of primary care service capabilities and the decentralization of medical and health resources.

Mobile healthcare has become a positive driving force in China's current healthcare reform. Industry insiders generally believe that the area where mobile healthcare should make its most significant breakthrough is primary care.

Compared with first- and second-tier cities, the development of primary healthcare faces greater challenges. To survive and maintain growth, primary healthcare providers will more proactively adopt and promote mobile health solutions. With the advancement of mobile health, investors are highly optimistic about the future prospects of primary healthcare. It is foreseeable that primary healthcare will soon become the main battleground for mobile health.

Since 2012, Health Road has been assisting regional medical institutions in establishing tiered diagnosis and treatment systems. It operates the industry’s largest referral collaboration network in terms of the number of participating hospitals. By now leveraging its chronic disease patient service platform to forge partnerships with primary care institutions, the company’s future strategic market layout is becoming increasingly apparent.

As the multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company with the most solid presence in county-level medical markets, Sanofi maintains strong, ongoing relationships with county hospitals and possesses deep expertise in the management of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular conditions. This not only enables Health Road to rapidly expand its reach into primary care settings and tap into available grassroots physician resources, but also helps address the strategic gap in medical knowledge inherent to an internet healthcare company that originally built its business on appointment registration services. It is therefore unsurprising that Health Road invested RMB 15 million to partner with Sanofi in jointly building a health management and doctor-patient interaction platform.

Pharmaceutical Companies Leverage Internet Healthcare for Role Upgrading

Nowadays, an increasing number of pharmaceutical companies are engaging deeply with internet healthcare through various models. For these companies, internet healthcare is no longer merely a marketing tool. In Sanofi’s case, this collaboration undoubtedly represents a key component of its internet healthcare strategy in the Chinese market.

Currently, the public increasingly expects pharmaceutical companies, as key players in the healthcare sector, to provide comprehensive solutions for specific disease conditions rather than merely selling medications. For instance, initiatives such as collaborating with digital health companies to offer telemedicine and post-diagnosis follow-up solutions are likely to receive more positive social feedback. Sanofi’s partnership with Health Road to develop a health management and doctor-patient interaction platform aligns precisely with this emerging trend.

Furthermore, disease management tools in internet-based healthcare, particularly those for chronic disease management, will significantly enhance patients' medication adherence. Experts note that medication adherence is a critical component of chronic disease management, yet it continues to face numerous challenges.

The health management and doctor-patient interaction platform, jointly developed by Jiankang Zhilu and Sanofi, will effectively improve patients' medication adherence, thereby enhancing the quality control of chronic disease management and the diagnostic and treatment capabilities of primary care physicians. This will enable earlier diagnosis and treatment for more chronic disease patients, ultimately reducing the burden on individuals and society.