Foreign start-ups eye China’s vast digital health care market, but finding the right revenue model holds the key to success
- Start-ups such as Boston-based Biofourmis have partnered with local health care platforms like Jianke, giving the company access to its vast customer base
Digital therapeutics and smart medical management, an emerging field in the health care industry, is attracting some foreign companies to China, which has the potential to improve the lives of people living with chronic conditions and reduce their medical bills.
“In China, digital technology will play a massive role in patient outcomes and health care costs,” said Celina Chew, German life science company Bayer’s president for Greater China.
While China’s market potential is huge in chronic diseases, for which many of the new devices are designed, it is not an easy journey to find the right partner, navigate the unique local health management and payment systems, and come up with a viable revenue model.
The global digital health care sector has seen rising investments and saw almost US$15 billion in venture capital deals last year, according to the company’s global head of digital health incubation, Eugene Borukhovich.
“Within the complex world of digital health, digital therapeutics has been the shining light and is expected to see revenues of around US$10 billion by 2025 very conservatively,” he said.