As Innovation Enters the Clinical Deep Water, How Will Alcon Redefine Its Value in China?

Behind this statement is a shift taking place in China's ophthalmic clinical needs. In the past, ophthalmic treatment mainly addressed the basic problem of "not being able to see"; today, patients' expectations for postoperative visual quality, personalization, and long-term stability keep rising. In an interview with VCBeat, Zhang Jian noted that patient needs have gradually shifted from simply solving "not being able to see" toward high-definition, personalized, all-scenario visual outcomes, and different patients' requirements for intermediate-to-long distance, near distance, and visual disturbances are becoming increasingly granular.

Upgrading demand is also redefining competition among ophthalmic device companies. In Zhang Jian's view, today's competition is no longer just about selling a product into a hospital, but about answering whether a product can truly enter clinical practice, whether it can be used in a standardized way, and whether it can ultimately translate into patient benefit. For surgical medical devices, technology is only the first step; only through sustained validation in clinical practice and translation into patient benefit can innovation truly complete its "last mile."

The ophthalmic device industry is changing as well: the yardstick for corporate competition is gradually extending from single-product performance and market coverage to clinical application capability, professional education systems, patient accessibility, and local innovation capability. For Alcon, which has been in China for more than thirty years, the question is therefore no longer just how to bring global innovation to China, but how to bring China's clinical needs, physician experience, and industrial capability further into its own global innovation system.

China's ophthalmic market still has enormous long-term demand, but the structure of that demand has changed. Zhang Jian noted that, with population aging, lifestyle changes, and improved ophthalmic diagnostic and treatment capability, patients' expectations for ophthalmic surgery have gradually shifted from basic blindness treatment and vision restoration toward higher visual quality. Some patients hope to reduce their reliance on glasses after surgery and pay more attention to near, intermediate, and far vision experiences and visual disturbances.

During CCOS, Alcon showcased a range of ophthalmic surgical products, including the Clareon family of intraocular lenses, the Constellation vitreoretinal surgery system, and the ARGOS biometer, and is advancing the introduction and rollout of Unity VCS, a next-generation integrated phaco-vitrectomy surgical system, in China. Among these, the Constellation vitreoretinal surgery system has an installed base of more than 2,500 units in China and has supported millions of vitreoretinal surgeries; the ARGOS biometer has formally entered the Chinese market, while Unity VCS is being introduced and rolled out in China.

Behind these products is a shift in ophthalmic devices from single-device competition toward competition in systematic clinical solutions. In surgical products especially, equipment, consumables, surgical procedures, and postoperative outcomes are highly interconnected, and a company's ability to provide support across a complete clinical scenario is increasingly becoming part of product value.

Zhang Jian does not regard "launch" itself as the endpoint of innovation. On the contrary, in his view, product approval is only the starting point for entering clinical practice. Whether a product can be understood, mastered, and used in a standardized way, whether it can genuinely help surgeons improve diagnostic and treatment efficiency, and whether it can ultimately give patients more stable and predictable treatment outcomes — these are the keys to judging innovation value.

This is also a major characteristic of innovation in surgical medical devices: technology does not automatically translate into clinical value. A new piece of equipment, a new intraocular lens — both must go through clinical application to truly reach patients. R&D investment therefore cannot stop at the laboratory and the product; professional education, clinical support, and post-launch feedback mechanisms are likewise part of the innovation value chain.

Alcon continues to advance its PD Phaco Development program and has formed a tiered training system around PD, Professional Education (PE), and Clinical Application and Support (CAS), leveraging platforms such as the Alcon Experience Academy (AEA) and Alcon Experience Centers (AEC) to provide ophthalmic professionals at different stages with theoretical learning, surgical demonstrations, academic exchange, and case sharing.

At the industry level, as innovative products become more complex, it is difficult for companies to complete value conversion through a single sale; application capability, clinical evidence, standardized use, and service systems are becoming part of product competitiveness. Innovation is no longer just about "developing something" — it requires continuous validation through the clinical system.

If in the past multinational companies entering China largely followed "global R&D, China launch," today that relationship is changing: as the Chinese market develops and clinical practice continues to accumulate, China is becoming an increasingly important part of the global innovation system.

In the interview, Zhang Jian noted that after years of clinical practice and application of new technologies, Chinese physicians have reached globally leading levels in accepting, applying, and mastering new technologies and in accumulating clinical experience. The Chinese market is therefore no longer merely an application field for global innovation, but is forming an increasingly important source of clinical innovation input.

This change is first reflected in clinical feedback mechanisms. Zhang Jian said Alcon continuously collects clinical information through multiple channels — feedback from professional education programs, post-marketing clinical studies, and sales and after-sales — and uses that information to optimize training content, product design, and even production processes. For medical devices, the extensive real-world experience generated after a product enters clinical use is itself a critical source of information for R&D and iteration.

This also changes the meaning of professional education. In the past, such corporate programs focused more on application support for new technologies and products; as clinical practice experience accumulates, the education system must also take on experience transfer, standardized application, and the promotion of regional capability building. The RISE Strategic Ophthalmology Education Alliance launched during CCOS will join forces with regional teaching hospitals to integrate ophthalmic education resources and help build a collaborative education network covering national centers, regional hubs, and primary-level medical institutions.

Zhang Jian noted that as the diagnostic and treatment capabilities of leading hospitals continue to improve, the next challenge is addressing capability gaps among medical institutions at different levels. For a market with a vast patient population, innovative technologies can only further release value by entering more real clinical scenarios. Extending the education system to regions and the grassroots is, in essence, innovation moving from "localized application" toward "standardized application at a larger scale."

In the view of Rick Kozloski, president of Alcon China, the rapid development of clinical practice in China is also changing the relationship between Alcon's global innovation system and the Chinese market. He explained that Alcon applies a globally unified innovation methodology, while the Chinese market's participation and influence are continuously rising. Headquarters uses mechanisms such as the "China topic" to bring the needs and changes of the Chinese market into the global innovation system.

One important change is that Chinese market needs and the clinical opinions of Chinese experts are beginning to enter the R&D process earlier. Kozloski noted that Alcon regularly conducts R&D exchanges with leading experts in core fields in China, bringing feedback from clinical practice into global product development and iteration. As a result, China is gradually moving from an application market for global innovation outcomes to a participant in the innovation process.

A fairly typical case is the refractive product Wavelight Plus. The product achieved a global first launch in China, drawing extensively on feedback and suggestions from the Chinese market before launch, and underwent software feature iteration. This shows that China's value to multinational companies is no longer just patient numbers and market size; the experience Chinese physicians accumulate in real clinical settings can also become important input for global product iteration.

This also changes the meaning of "localization." In the past, localization mainly meant localization of registration, sales, and production; today, localization of R&D and of clinical experience have also become important components. Chinese patient needs, Chinese surgeons' experience, and the innovation capability formed in the Chinese market are beginning to jointly constitute a "China variable" in the global innovation system.

Kozloski also told VCBeat that Alcon is proactively seeking local innovation opportunities in China through strategic investment and business partnerships. On one hand, it advances independent innovation based on its own technology and R&D capabilities; on the other, it seeks opportunities to collaborate with domestic experts, universities, and local companies. The relationship between China and the rest of the world is thus gradually changing from one-way product import into two-way innovation exchange.

Viewed on a longer timeline, Alcon's presence in China is no longer limited to bringing products to market, but is gradually extending into clinical application, professional education, local partnerships, and manufacturing.

Volume-based procurement is an important window into this change. Alcon previously took the initiative to participate in intraocular lens procurement, and both Zhang Jian and Kozloski discussed the logic behind that strategy in their interviews. For medical device companies, procurement first of all means changes to the pricing system and business model, but from the perspective of patient accessibility and clinical application, lower prices may also accelerate the entry of innovative products into more hospitals and to more patients.

Zhang Jian cited Vivity as an example, telling VCBeat that the product quickly covered more than 1,000 public and private hospitals nationwide after participating in procurement, with estimated annual implant volume exceeding 100,000 units. However, Zhang Jian also emphasized that his focus is not merely on how many hospitals a product enters, but on whether an innovative product can truly be used and ultimately translate into clinical value patients can obtain.

This is also a practical question facing medical device companies today: the commercial value and clinical value of innovative products do not always move in sync. In a constantly changing market environment, companies need to rethink how innovation value is realized and better balance product accessibility, clinical application, and patient benefit.

Zhang Jian also explained this to VCBeat from a broader business logic: no matter how good a product is or how new its technology, if it cannot truly enter clinical practice and patients cannot benefit from it, then innovation has not completed its value conversion. Therefore, as China's market environment continues to change, what companies need to rethink is not simply "how to sell products," but how to improve the efficiency with which innovative products reach patients and enter clinical practice.

At the same time, manufacturing is becoming another layer of localization. Kozloski said Alcon has obtained the registration certificate for its first domestically produced refractive surgery table product and is advancing local production registration and approval for ophthalmic excimer laser surgery equipment, with further plans to be advanced according to different product lines and Chinese market demand.

The significance of local production for multinational medical device companies is not only lower production costs. China has a mature medical device industry chain and manufacturing capability; once manufacturing is further connected with R&D and clinical practice, the distance from technical solution to market launch can be shortened, and companies' speed in responding to changes in the Chinese market can be increased.

In addition, decision-making efficiency between headquarters and the Chinese market has become a new competitive variable. Zhang Jian said Alcon's global innovation system adopts a unified methodology, but the Chinese subsidiary's voice and weight are rising, and the China organization also has dedicated mechanisms responsible for matters such as M&A and strategic partnerships to improve local response speed.

This means that whether the Chinese market's needs, feedback, and practical experience can enter the global innovation system in a timely manner has become an important reflection of a multinational's localization capability. As the market environment, patient needs, and clinical practice continue to evolve, companies need to understand and respond to these changes more agilely. If the China organization merely executes headquarters' strategy, it will be difficult to fully adapt to such changes.

More than thirty years after entering China, Alcon faces a question more complex than "bringing innovative products to market": how can the Chinese market truly enter the global innovation system, how can Chinese clinical practice influence product R&D and iteration in reverse, how can Chinese manufacturing capability integrate into the global industry chain, and how can local Chinese innovation form new collaborative relationships with global resources.

As a result, the so-called "China value" is being redefined. It is no longer just a sales market with a vast patient population and market size, but increasingly an important node connecting clinical needs, practical experience, innovative R&D, and industrial capability. For Alcon, what may truly be worth watching next is whether this set of capabilities can continue to extend into deeper R&D, collaboration, and the global innovation system.