Medical Device Weekly News Roundup (April 7–13, 2026): Innovations, Approvals, and Strategic Moves

Recently, Agibot Medtech (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. completed patient treatment in the clinical trial of the ReachTactile™ robotic-assisted transcatheter aortic valve replacement (“TAVR”) system. The surgery was performed by Professor Wang Yan and his team from the Cardiovascular Hospital affiliated with Xiamen University, utilizing the ReachTactile™ robotic-assisted TAVR system to implant the TaurusElite® transcatheter aortic valve in a patient with severe aortic stenosis. ReachTactile™ is an internally developed robotic-assisted TAVR system by Agibot, providing an innovative and cost-effective solution for TAVR treatment. Its modular and mobile design is compatible with traditional vascular interventional catheterization labs, allowing a cardiologist to operate multiple devices with sub-millimeter precision.

Recently, the 91st China International Medical Equipment Fair (CMEF) opened. At the exhibition, Midea Healthcare held the "AI Full-Dimension Intelligent Transformation 2025 Midea Healthcare Annual New Product Launch and China Backbone Guardian Plan Launch Conference," officially announcing the establishment of the Midea Healthcare Division. Midea Healthcare leverages Wandong Healthcare's expertise in medical diagnostic equipment and imaging intelligence solutions, KUKA Healthcare's cutting-edge technology in surgical and rehabilitation robotics, Midea Biomedical's professional advantages in medical cold chain refrigeration, Swisslog Healthcare's mature solutions in hospital logistics and pharmacy automation, and Midea Building Technology's capabilities in smart hospital construction and operation. The synergy of these premium resources will further enhance Midea Healthcare’s industrial competitiveness.

Recently, the market has been experiencing significant turbulence. Driven by the upgrading of clinical needs and the challenges posed by innovative technologies, many leading companies in the orthopedic medical device sector are feeling the pressure and have started selling off their businesses. On April 1st, Stryker announced that it had completed the sale of its U.S. spinal implant business to Viscogliosi Brothers, LLC, a family investment firm specializing in neuromusculoskeletal areas. In addition to Stryker, several other leading orthopedic device companies are also divesting their businesses. For example, on January 2, 2025, Bioventus, an orthopedic device company spun off from Smith+Nephew, announced that it had successfully completed the divestiture of its advanced rehabilitation business. This divestiture marks another major business unit sale for Bioventus, which had already successfully completed the spin-off of its wound care business to LifeNet Health in May 2023.

Recently, the Liaoning Provincial Medical Security Platform released the "Notice on Carrying Out Information Maintenance for Volume-based Procurement of Five Types of Medical Consumables Including Sutures in the Provincial Alliance." The notice indicates that to facilitate the volume-based procurement of five types of medical consumables, including sutures, within the provincial alliance, information maintenance for the proposed procurement products will now commence. The product categories include: sutures, syringes (with needles), infusion sets for pumps, vacuum blood collection tubes (including venous blood sample collection needles), and oxygen inhalation tubes. The information maintenance period is from March 31, 2025, to 17:00 on April 14, 2025. Regarding the provincial alliance procurement, last year also saw several projects focusing on low-value consumables, with overall strong bargaining power. Notable large-scale projects included the pre-filled catheter flush syringe procurement led by Inner Mongolia (average reduction of 85.4%) and the procurement of six types of consumables, including needle-free connectors, led by Liaoning (average reduction of 77%).

Recently, the Anhui Provincial Medical Security Bureau issued the "Notice on Standardizing and Integrating Medical Service Price Items for Radiological Examinations." In accordance with national project guidelines, this Notice consolidates radiological examination items in Anhui Province into 26 projects, discontinuing the use of 172 medical service price items such as "Digital Radiography (DR)." After consolidation, radiological examination price items are categorized under X-ray examinations, X-ray computed tomography (CT) examinations, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radionuclide planar imaging, single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), and radionuclide function tests. The Notice includes 22 price items like "Computed Tomography (CT) Enhancement" within the scope of medical insurance payments. Among them, 12 items such as "Plain Computed Tomography (CT) Scan" are managed as Category A, while 10 items like "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Plain Scan (Vascular)" are managed as Category B. Four items, including "Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT)," are managed as Category C.

Recently, the Shanxi Government Procurement Website released the "Procurement Announcement for the Medical Equipment Update Project of Jincheng Third People's Hospital," with a budget of approximately 250 million yuan, to purchase 1,836 medical devices including CT, MR, and color Doppler ultrasound machines. According to the "Announcement," this procurement project has only one procurement package, does not accept consortium bids, and requires delivery within 60 days after signing the contract, placing very high demands on the supplier’s delivery capability. Specifically, this procurement covers a total of 221 items, comprising 1,836 medical devices, including imaging equipment (CT, MRI, DR, etc.), laboratory equipment, surgical instruments, and rehabilitation devices. Among these, only 15 devices such as electronic gastroscopes and colonoscopes systems and fully automatic microbial identification and susceptibility testing systems are allowed to be imported products; the remaining 1,821 devices will all be procured as domestically produced products. According to the Jincheng Municipal Health Commission, Jincheng Third People's Hospital is a secondary-level, Class A public hospital with comprehensive medical service functions.

Recently, the Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission and three other departments jointly issued the "Several Measures for Full-Chain Support of Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Development in Shenzhen." Focusing on nine key areas—research and innovation, artificial intelligence applications, clinical trials, registration approvals, production and manufacturing, promotion and application, enterprise globalization, talent and financial empowerment, and investment promotion—the document proposes 32 specific measures. These measures aim to leverage Shenzhen's strengths in technological innovation, advanced manufacturing, and Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation to accelerate the development of a leading pharmaceutical and medical device industry cluster in China that is domestically advanced and internationally first-class. The measures propose improving procurement models for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, supporting medical institutions in establishing external prescription drug lists and linkage mechanisms with the "dual-channel" drug list, building an overseas market expansion service platform for pharmaceutical and medical device enterprises in Shenzhen, and supporting start-up pharmaceutical and medical device companies in expanding globally through cross-border technology licensing transactions and cross-border R&D collaborations. Enterprises authorizing overseas companies with product R&D and sales rights abroad will be rewarded with 5% of the initial payment amount, up to a maximum of 10 million yuan.

Recently, it was learned from the press conference on the pilot program for optimizing environmental impact assessment (EIA) classification management in Chongqing's industrial parks, held in Banan District, that as a pilot park for optimizing EIA classification management by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Chongqing International Biological City will be the first in China to carry out reform pilots exempting 10 categories of construction projects in the biopharmaceutical field from EIA. By simplifying the EIA approval management process and optimizing the environmental protection service environment for enterprises, the initiative aims to promote high-quality industrial development. According to reports, the pilot program focuses on three major categories related to the biopharmaceutical field in the Ministry of Ecology and Environment’s "Catalogue for Environmental Impact Assessment Classification Management of Construction Projects (2021 Edition)" — namely, the biopharmaceutical industry, medical instrument and equipment and apparatus manufacturing, professional laboratories, research and development (testing) bases, etc. Specifically, this includes 10 sub-categories such as biopharmaceuticals manufacturing, chemical pharmaceutical preparations manufacturing, and medical instrument and equipment and apparatus manufacturing, which would normally require the preparation of an environmental impact report form, but will now be exempted from EIA approval during the pilot.