Recently, there is a saying that has become more and more popular in the venture capital circle: pessimists are always right, and optimists are always moving forward.
Different people have different understandings of this sentence. Some people believe that the market environment is bad and the future risks are huge, so we should stop losses in time and reduce losses. Some people also believe that not all optimists can succeed, but entrepreneurs still need to remain optimistic and move forward bravely. Because the future success must be optimists, and the pessimists who stand still are not qualified to hit the finish line.
Especially in the healthcare industry, the efforts of optimistic entrepreneurs will show value even if they are not successful. This value is not necessarily reflected in the development and commercialization of enterprises, but may also be reflected in technological breakthroughs, product applications, patient benefits, industry development, etc.
It should be noted that optimistic entrepreneurs are not blindly optimistic, they will also make strategic predictions of the future market environment, and formulate corporate development strategies for the new year based on this judgment.
Standing at the starting point of 2024, what are the judgments of medical entrepreneurs for the new year? What kind of strategy will they develop for the company's development? In response to these problems, Arterial Network interviewed a number of entrepreneurs in the medical industry, hoping that the views and strategies of these entrepreneurs can give the industry some reference.
Don't trade high investment for revenue
In the eyes of most entrepreneurs, 2024 is a dangerous year.
First of all, there is a lot of uncertainty in the market environment. On the one hand, the country's frequent policies will increase support for high-end medical devices, innovative medical devices, upstream raw materials and core components, innovative drugs and other segments; On the other hand, the centralized procurement policy continues to deepen, the medical anti-corruption is in full swing, and the market competition is intensifying.
Second, the capital market will continue the trend in 2023 and continue to clear the bubble. Changes in the secondary market are often transmitted to the primary market. Recent index changes in the secondary market may continue to affect the sales of major investment institutions in the primary market. This also makes medical start-ups face a more severe situation in terms of financing. In particular, those start-ups that have not formed a revenue scale may face greater pressure to survive.
Finally, medical companies that have achieved large-scale revenue will also encounter operational and loss problems in the context of intensified competition and downturn. In particular, some of the fiercely competitive tracks may have large-scale write-offs, shutdowns, and mergers and acquisitions. "The old days of lying down and making money are gone. An anonymous entrepreneur said.
In addition, a number of entrepreneurs and investors in the medical industry have judged that there will be a number of companies in the market that will reduce their operating costs through layoffs, salary cuts and other measures, and even eliminate product lines that cannot contribute revenue or profits, so as to focus on product lines that can generate revenue quickly.
However, despite the tough market environment, most of the entrepreneurs interviewed followed the idea of "strategically despising the enemy and tactically valuing the enemy". Strategically, these entrepreneurs are willing to wait for future changes; In terms of tactics, they adjusted the company's development strategy for the new year according to forward-looking judgments.
Compared with the development plan that was once formulated, most entrepreneurs have made an adjustment in 2024: they will focus more on commercialization.
At present, the external environment has put forward higher requirements for innovative enterprises, which has shortened the cycle for innovative enterprises to verify their profitability. However, this will also force outstanding innovative enterprises to accelerate their development. Qin Lan, founder and chairman of Qianglian Zhichuang, an enterprise in the field of intelligent diagnosis and treatment of cerebrovascular diseases, said, "It is a basic requirement for commercial companies to achieve profitability. Investment institutions give companies a higher valuation because investors recognize the future profitability of the company's products. It's just that in the past, the market was hot, the funds were abundant, and investment institutions were more tolerant of the profitability verification of innovative enterprises, allowing them to explore and verify in a longer cycle. ”
Nowadays, the market and investment institutions are demanding that innovative companies complete profitability verification as early as possible. It is expected that when the company's product innovation and profitability are verified, it will be favored by more investment institutions. After all, at this stage, high-quality resources always tend to head enterprises and high-quality projects. However, projects that only have technological innovation but cannot achieve profitability may be abandoned by the market.
It is worth mentioning that, in view of the judgment of the market environment in 2024, many innovative companies put profit first and revenue second in terms of commercialization goals.
In addition to commercialization, healthcare entrepreneurs have also made adjustments to their product strategies. In the past two years, the normalization of centralized procurement has objectively brought great changes to the competitive environment of enterprises. In response to this change, some innovative companies are diversifying their products. For example, with minimally invasive surgery as the main line, Yisi Medical has created product lines such as staplers, ultrasonic knife, electrosurgical knife, and endoscope. In 2024, ES Medical will continue to expand its product line and plan to promote the rapid growth of the company's revenue scale through the revenue generated by multiple products.
In the direction of product innovation,Different businesses will adopt different strategies. For example, for Pamu Medical and Qianglian Zhichuang, which have the world's first products, they will develop innovative products in accordance with the established strategy and iteratively optimize the products that have been marketed. With more competitors, Yisi Medical develops products that meet market demand according to the characteristics of different markets.
Specifically, in the low-to-mid-end market, ES Medical's innovation focus is to focus on core functions, strengthen quality assurance and maintain cost advantages, while additional features such as reducing surgery time and facilitating product use are no longer the focus. In the high-end market, customers have sufficient ability to pay, so INS Medical will continue to insist on innovation from the perspective of health economic value and clinical value.
In terms of marketing, some companies reduce investment, and some companies increase investment. For example, most of the enterprises that win the bid for centralized procurement will reduce their marketing investment in the domestic market; In the innovative field that has not carried out centralized procurement, relevant enterprises will increase marketing efforts to promote the commercialization of products.
In addition,More and more healthcare companies are planning to go overseas in 2024。Although the road to the sea is full of challenges, there are always companies at the forefront of the industry and overcoming obstacles in a turbulent environment. For example, the PADN series products independently developed by Pamu Medical will be approved by the US FDA for humanitarian use in 2023 for the use of **Group I type 1 pulmonary hypertension. At the same time, the product will be covered by the U.S. Medicare code in January 2024, which will ensure that it can be reimbursed for clinical application. It is reported that this certification and certification are the first in China.
Expand at a time when most businesses are shrinking
In 2024, for the severe market judged by industry insiders, the plan of most entrepreneurs is to "reduce expenses and survive the winter". However, there are a few companies that intend to accelerate their commercial expansion in a tough market environment.
For example,In order to cooperate with the marketing of PADN series products, Pamu Medical will steadily expand its commercialization team in 2024. Previously, Pamu Medical's world-first PADN series products (disposable annular pulmonary artery radiofrequency ablation catheter and pulmonary artery radiofrequency ablation instrument) were approved by the NMPA at the end of 2023.
It is understood that PADN series products are dedicated to pulmonary hypertension, which can help patients with pulmonary hypertension improve long-term prognosis and improve quality of life. Compared with traditional solutions, PADN has four advantages: safety, stability, efficiency and user-friendliness.
As the world's first technology and product, PADN is still in the early stage of development, and enterprises need to do a lot of academic promotion and diagnosis and treatment standard training. Therefore, Pamu Medical puts disease awareness and technology popularization as the first element, and plans to promote academic and diagnosis and treatment across the country.
"In 2024, the company will increase its efforts in commercialization and promotion, and vigorously support the market expansion of PADN series products. We believe that this will ensure that the commercialization of PADN products in China leads the world, and the company will be able to clarify its market position with the first-mover advantage and improve its core competitiveness." ”
Different from Pamu Medical, which has just started commercialization, Qianglian Zhichuang has already had some commercialization experience. In the new year, the commercialization goal set by Qianglian Zhichuang is to achieve several times growth.
Qin Lan, founder and chairman of Qianglian Zhichuang, said: "Judging from the trends and data in the third quarter, fourth quarter of 2023 and January 2024, we are fully confident that we will achieve this goal. Because the intelligent surgical solution launched by the company solves the core pain points in clinical practice, the man-machine combined surgery method promoted by the company can achieve better results than doctors doing surgery alone. ”
In order to achieve the goal, Qianglian Zhichuang will expand the recruitment of marketing talents in 2024. Different from traditional sales, the marketing talents recruited by Qianglian Zhichuang are more inclined to content and patient services.
Qin Lan believes: "With the policy reform of centralized procurement and DRG payment, the pharmaceutical sales environment has changed drastically. Traditional sales that rely on customer relationships will become less and less important in future marketing promotions. For innovative businesses that are different from traditional medical devices, we hope to rely on the professionalism of marketing talents to win market recognition. ”
Previously, Qianglian Zhichuang had tried the traditional sales model, but they decided to abandon the previous model and hope to explore some new marketing models from scratch.
At present, in the national market, the vast majority of clinicians lack understanding of the country's first AI+** innovative medical device Class III certificate "Uknow Intracranial Aneurysm Surgery Planning Software" launched by Qianglian Zhichuang, and also lack awareness of its "software + equipment + consumables" full-path intelligent surgical solution. Therefore, the marketing talents recruited by Qianglian Zhichuang will start from the content and patient service aspects.
Different from sales work in the traditional sense, Qianglian Zhichuang hopes that these marketing talents will assist doctors to cultivate new processes and habits, and polish the surgical process more smoothly. When the product is excellent and the customer acceptance is good, I believe that the customer will take the initiative to come to the door.
It's not just Qianglian Zhichuang,ES Medical has also set a high-growth commercialization target, and it expects a significant increase in revenue at home and abroad in 2024.
In the domestic market, Yisi Medical has previously won the bid for a number of centralized procurement projects in Tianjin. With the implementation of these centralized procurement projects in 2024, Yisi Medical expects its minimally invasive surgical series products to increase rapidly and the sales scale will grow rapidly.
In the international market, Yisi Medical has been deployed for many years, and has entered more than 70 countries and regions around the world, and has more than 150 registration certificates. Based on years of academic promotion and brand building, ES Medical expects its overseas business to enter a stage of rapid growth in 2024.
Nie Honglin, Chairman of INS Medical, said: "In 2024, the company will significantly increase brand publicity and technical promotion expenses in overseas markets, increase investment in academic promotion in different surgical fields, and enhance the popularity of ES Medical's overseas brands in various countries and segments around the world. It is expected that the company's overseas revenue growth rate will be greater than the domestic revenue growth rate. ”
These companies, which are accelerating their expansion in 2024, believe that their expansion will achieve twice the result with half the effort when competitors shrink their investments and act cautiously.
Expanding against the trend, what is the confidence?
For innovative enterprises, a decision may lead the enterprise to glory or to its demise. Despite the pressure, Pamu Medical, Qianglian Zhichuang, and Yisi Medical have all made decisions to accelerate their expansion. And they appear confident in this decision.
"At this stage, the most advanced methods for pulmonary arterial hypertension include lung transplantation and drugs, and the company's world-first PADN product has opened a new stage of interventional pulmonary hypertension," said Cynthia Chen. Compared with other regimens, PADN** has the advantages of less trauma, low perioperative mortality and better prognosis. The world's first product, the initial commercialization team, excellent market talents, unique commercialization strategy and strict open-source and cost-saving plan will escort the steady growth of Pamu Medical. ”
In 2022, Ms. Lian Jia officially joined Pamu Medical as CEO. It is reported that Ms. Lian Jia has more than 20 years of experience in market commercialization, industrial strategy development and global capital market operation. He has successfully led the commercialization of the world's first drug stent in China, successfully explored the establishment of domestic and international distribution cooperation models with domestic enterprises, and has rich experience in business spin-offs, mergers and acquisitions, and successful commercialization of multiple products.
In terms of commercialization strategy, Cynthia mentioned that as the world's first product, the first step in the commercialization of PADEN series products is doctor-patient education, that is, to let doctors and patients understand, accept, and apply products. In this regard, Pamu Medical will cooperate with dozens of central hospitals in China to develop training and surgical teaching plans, and radiate more hospitals and doctors from top to bottom with the help of the domestic doctor training model; Establish and promote guidelines and expert consensus related to PADN** in conjunction with industry associations and societies, and do a good job in knowledge popularization; Through patient care activities, patients are helped to have a deeper understanding of pulmonary hypertension and PADN.
Similar to Pamu Medical, part of the confidence of Qianglian Zhichuang also comes from the product. Qin Lan said: "The intelligent surgical solution launched by Qianglian Zhichuang solves the core pain points in clinical practice, and the human-machine combined surgery method promoted by the company can achieve better results than doctors doing surgery alone. ”
Specifically, after being approved as the country's first AI+** innovative medical device Class III certificate "Uknow Intracranial Aneurysm Surgery Planning Software", the product will be upgraded to a "software + equipment + consumables" full-path intelligent surgical solution in 2023. This solution not only provides doctors with automated surgical plans and automated intraoperative guidance, but also automates surgical operations through equipment. This greatly reduces the difficulty of neurointerventional surgery and helps neurointerventional surgery to sink into primary hospitals.
In terms of efficacy, in the pre-marketing prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled clinical trials, the intelligent group was assisted by the uknow intracranial aneurysm surgery planning software, and the manual group was used according to the traditional conventional operation protocol. The clinical results showed that the intelligent group was significantly better than the manual group in the key evaluation indicators such as the success rate of the microcatheter in place for the first time, the success rate of the microcatheter in place within 5 minutes, the time of the successful placement of the microcatheter, and the stability of the microcatheter.
Another confidence is that the uknow intracranial aneurysm surgery planning software was successfully selected into the "2023 Second Batch of Beijing New Technology, New Product and New Service List" jointly released by the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission and other five departments. It is understood that the products selected for the list can enjoy policy support such as procurement and promotion and application. It is expected that this will help the commercialization process of Qianglian Zhichuang.
Unlike Pamu Medical and Qianglian Zhichuang, Yisi Medical operates in a more complex environment, and many of its products have multiple strong competitors.
Nie Honglin, Chairman of INS Medical, said: "There is no doubt that in the minimally invasive surgery market, giants such as Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson have a variety of advantages such as brands, channels, and products. However, compared with overseas giants, we also have our own unique competitive advantages. ”
In the past two years, the global economy has generally declined, and medical insurance in various countries has been under great pressure. As a result, payers in various countries are in dire need of high-quality, low-cost products. In this case, the high-quality and low-cost products that meet the market demand have the opportunity to win market recognition and seize more market share. Nie Honglin said: "The company's minimally invasive surgical products are comparable to overseas products in terms of performance, and some core properties are even better than overseas products, and in terms of performance, the products have cost advantages. ”
Compared with other minimally invasive surgery companies in China, ES Medical has always been in a leading position in technological innovation and quality assurance, and has been recognized by doctors at home and abroad. On the other hand, Yisi Medical is an early enterprise to deploy overseas markets and has a clear first-mover advantage. In the global market, high-quality resources are scarce. As an enterprise that occupies high-quality resources, Yisi Medical will accelerate the expansion of overseas markets with the help of overseas high-quality distributors and KOLs.