On May 16, the 18th Medical Device Industry Innovation Service Forum was successfully held at the 87th China International Medical Equipment Fair (CMEF). HTDK, as a co-host, focused on the innovative development of in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) and invited distinguished guests, including Wang Jiayi, researcher at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Secretary General of the POCT Alliance; Zhang Guojun, Director of the Clinical Laboratory at Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University; and Gao Bo, Senior Director of Regulatory Policy Intelligence at Roche Diagnostics China, for multi-level and multi-dimensional discussions on the high-quality development of IVD.

The forum was hosted by Wang Lin, Secretary General of the Innovation Service Professional Committee of the China Association for Medical Devices Industry. He emphasized the association’s commitment to continuously promoting industrial technological innovation, accelerating industrial development, and facilitating the transformation of scientific achievements into commercial products. This forum specifically invited relevant service organizations to discuss development ideas and share experiences.

Keynote Speech by Andy TIAN, General Manager of Commercial Channel Service at HTDK

Andy TIAN, General Manager of Commercial Channel Service at HTDK, delivered the opening remarks, expressing gratitude to the industry experts supporting and attending the forum and welcoming IVD industry practitioners present. He highlighted the forum’s goal to strengthen cooperation across the industrial chain and create an industrial ecosystem cluster to promote collaborative industry development.

Wang Jiayi provided an analysis of the post-pandemic development and trends of the IVD industry. He detailed the growth and competition patterns in recent years, stating that while some domestic IVD companies have made gains during the pandemic, the international competitive landscape remains unchanged, and China’s overall innovation capability needs enhancement. He further analyzed the industry’s needs from a technological and capacity-building perspective and shared his insights on post-pandemic IVD technological trends and key areas for innovation and development.

Gao Bo from Roche Diagnostics China discussed Roche’s 20+ years of commitment to introducing IVD solutions in China, continuously improving its industrial chain layout through direct investment, strategic cooperation, and industrial empowerment. She highlighted Roche’s efforts in local innovation collaboration, establishing production bases, R&D centers, and distribution centers in China, and partnering with local enterprises to create an integrated diagnostic ecosystem.

Zhang Guojun emphasized the core elements of IVD products, including stability, sensitivity, accuracy, multiplexing, and innovation. He stressed that IVD product innovation should be driven by practical clinical application value, leveraging an integrated platform from R&D to application to ensure the practicality of new technologies.

Andy further analyzed the IVD industry from a commercialization perspective, discussing how to identify innovative positioning and beneficial development paths in a competitive environment. He shared HTDK’s insights and case studies on building a diverse, globally aligned product portfolio, accelerating product registration and market entry, optimizing integration for cost-efficiency, and ensuring compliance.

Andy stated, “HTDK is the preferred partner for international innovative products entering China. We provide end-to-end professional commercial solutions for innovative medical devices, covering product registration, import/export, warehousing, distribution, commercial and channel management, inventory management, and after-sales service. With our extensive experience in supporting global brands’ cross-border operations, we utilize our commercialization platform, nationwide sales and distribution network, and efficient processes and IT services to accelerate product commercialization, gaining market advantages while better serving hospitals and benefiting patients.”

After listening to HTDK’s insights on the four stages of introducing international innovative products, landing cases, and the operation of the Asia-Pacific distribution center for international IVD giants, participants found the discussions highly valuable and inspiring.

Importance of IVD in Clinical Diagnosis

IVD provides 80% of the information for clinical diagnostics, playing an increasingly important role in disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. The IVD industry has become the largest segment of the medical device sector. Exploring and developing products, markets, and applications that meet the needs of the IVD industry requires not only technological innovation but also new commercial platforms and support systems.

Future Outlook and Commitment

The forum showcased multi-perspective experiences in post-pandemic collaboration between industry, academia, and research, and delved into the current status, next steps, and commercialization of the IVD industry. It provided new ideas for advancing the IVD industry’s development and value creation. This forum marks a starting point, focusing on the future where innovative, high-quality, safe, and advanced IVD products and technologies will bring more possibilities for clinical diagnostics.

HTDK will continue to work with IVD ecosystem partners to introduce high-quality, safe, and advanced domestic and international medical technologies and innovative products to the Chinese market. Together, they will promote the development of China’s local innovative medical system, contributing to the Healthy China 2030 initiative and better serving Chinese patients and healthcare users.