“Tracing the driving forces of an enterprise or industry is nothing more than two. One is called market driven, and the other is called technology driven. The so-called technology driven means that we need to explore the market through the development of new products and technologies. In this way, we can have the advantage of technology leadership and the right to price and speak in the market. Therefore, for Mindy Summit, we always pursue the growth brought about by technology driven.”
The Rise of “Chinese style” Medical Technology Innovation | Peptide Chain Dialogue: Midi Summit Meng Jian
Wedge:
The development of any era requires a group of people who can be called “the backbone of society” to promote it.
Today, Meng Jian, chairman of Beijing Mindy Summit Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Mindy Summit”), still remembers a 1959 film called “Young People in Our Village”.
This is an excellent work from an era of passionate struggle, inspiring generations of young people to explore and pursue their ideals. In the memory of Meng Jian, a graduate of the 89th Beijing Medical University, there was a group of young people with ideals, ambitions, and passion who came out of movies, gathered together and walked forward excitedly, chasing the dreams of that era together.
“In those days, in order to learn advanced medical technology, due to insufficient equipment to protect against radiation, only the person closest to the radiation source could wear lead clothing, while the young people behind could line up in a thoughtful string to reduce radiation hazards. Even though they were so difficult, everyone was still striving for it.” This is a true portrayal of the beginning of China’s cardiovascular intervention career.
Thirty years later, the young people of that year have become the “backbone” supporting the field of cardiovascular disease treatment in China. Some have become great doctors, some have become deans, and some have become academicians.
Meng Jian’s choice, however, was a path rarely traveled.
On the outskirts of Beijing, in the Shunyi Tianzhu Comprehensive Bonded Zone, a three story gray building is the headquarters base of Maidi Summit. In the past 16 years, this seemingly insignificant place has obtained more than 90 patents worldwide, bringing innovative products in 19 cardiovascular device fields to the market.
Of these, 11 products have obtained the registration certificate from the National Drug Administration, and 5 products have obtained the CE registration certificate; Among the products approved for marketing, there are 1 world first and 5 domestic first. In addition, there are many major research projects under way or about to start clinical trials at Midi Summit.
Of course, these simple numbers are far from reflecting the full significance of what Meng Jian and Maidi Summit have done. Nowadays, against the backdrop of “hard technology” becoming a national effort, it is particularly difficult for enterprises to have teams that create hard core technology to fill the gaps in domestic and foreign industries.
I | Starting a business as a doctor
Although in the field of cardiovascular clinical treatment, the domestic high-end device and consumable market has long been monopolized by international giants, Maidi Summit has opened a breakthrough in the innovation of Chinese medical device enterprises in the technological gap.
More than three months ago, an operation was performed in the Department of Cardiology at Zhongshan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University, causing considerable shock within the medical community. Professor Wang Chunsheng, Professor Wei Lai, and their team, famous experts in cardiac and vascular surgery in the hospital, used the mitral valve repair device E-Chord? Developed by Mindy Summit?, “We have completed the first percutaneous mitral chordae tendineae reconstruction operation in Asia, providing the best solution for patients with mitral regurgitation caused by simple chordae tendineae rupture or elongation.”.
In January of this year, Professor Liu Zhihong from the Department of Cardiology, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, used Maidi Summit to develop the only Pul Stent, currently approved for pulmonary artery stenosis in the world?? A patient with Takayasu arteritis, pulmonary artery stenosis, right pulmonary artery occlusion, and severe pulmonary hypertension underwent pulmonary artery stent implantation successfully.https://www.stoneitech.com/
Maidi Summit’s innovative instruments and two surgeries have created significant clinical technological breakthroughs. Behind the global attention and clinical recognition of each innovative product is the accumulated experience of Mindy for many years. Meng Jian, who came from a medical background, poured countless efforts and hopes into the summit of Maidi. This story is actually much longer than the company’s 16 year growth history.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the domestic medical device market was completely monopolized by multinational manufacturers. At that time, China was striving to accelerate social and economic development on a weak industrial foundation, but the domestic medical device field was still “impoverished and impoverished.”.
“By 1993, there were only a few doctors in China who were able to perform cardiac intervention. In the field of cardiac intervention, only catheters and balloons were available. Stents, which were widely used in the field of clinical treatment abroad, remained a blank in China. However, it was this blank that drove Meng Jian to make a change in his life.”.
In that year, Meng Jian, who had worked for four years at Peking University People’s Hospital, shed his status as a tumor surgeon and joined Yingzhijie, a representative British company at that time, becoming the first employee in China to be employed by a multinational company to introduce cardiac intervention technology.
The identity of employees from foreign companies has also enabled Meng Jian to stand at the forefront of the international arena and feel the gap in cardiac intervention technology at home and abroad for the first time. As a result, he traveled extensively with medical device product catalogs, product data, and samples, introducing high-tech and products from the international medical device field to domestic hospitals.
It is not only necessary to introduce technology, but also to cultivate people who understand technology.
“We want to establish a Huangpu School of Cardiovascular Medicine in China.”. In the winter of 1994, the cold wind could not resist the enthusiasm of dream seekers such as Meng Jian. Outside the cardiac catheterization room of Chaoyang Hospital, a group photo of Meng Jian and renowned cardiologist Hu Dayi is extremely valuable. On this day, Professor Hu Dayi, founding chairman of the Great Wall Society, officially inaugurated the “Great Wall Heart Intervention Training Center” established at Beijing Red Cross Chaoyang Hospital.
To this day, Meng Jian still clearly remembers the nameplate he made for the “Great Wall Cardiovascular Intervention Training Center” on the front street of the Art Museum on a bicycle in winter, and it was hung at the door of the cardiac catheterization room of Chaoyang Hospital on November 30, 1994.
The Rise of “Chinese style” Medical Technology Innovation | Peptide Chain Dialogue: Midi Summit Meng Jian
Also in 1994, Meng Jian began to cooperate with Academician Gao Runlin, a renowned cardiovascular expert at Fuwai Hospital, to launch the International Cardiovascular Disease Forum.
With his own resource advantages, Meng Jian invited international experts in the field of cardiac intervention for the Great Wall Intervention Training Course and Forum. His goal is very clear: to train Chinese doctors and introduce concepts, technologies, and products in the field of cardiac intervention into China.
In the following years, coronary stent treatment technology, congenital heart disease occlusion technology, atrial fibrillation treatment technology, coated coronary stent, and ventricular assist product technology were gradually introduced to China through forums and training centers, and hundreds of clinicians capable of applying these technologies were trained accordingly.
Therefore, Meng Jian is even considered as a weathervane figure in the field of interventional therapy for heart disease in China.
But for Meng Jian, just being an “introducer” of technology is not enough. After entering the new millennium, he keenly sensed that the overall environment of the industry was changing. Since 2005, with the rapid growth of the medical device market, the government has proposed a development strategy of “import substitution”, which has led to a rapid rise in the domestic medical device field.
Therefore, Meng Jian once again switched his role and became an entrepreneur in the wave of independent innovation of medical devices in China.
From a clinical background, Meng Jian understands diseases and the needs of patients; In foreign enterprises, Meng Jian understands technology and market; With the establishment of Maidi Summit, Meng Jian set himself a greater challenge to develop innovative technologies that can break the monopoly of foreign enterprises and make products that can benefit all mankind.
It is precisely this kind of life experience that has made Meng Jian the most scarce versatile talent in the industry, and has also given Mindy Summit unique innovative ideas and market choices. In fact, almost all of Maidi Summit’s core executive teams have strong medical backgrounds and working experience in foreign companies, and are familiar with clinical needs, markets, and technologies.
Meng Jian told Peptide Chain, “Although there are many companies that develop cardiovascular devices nationwide, many of our team members have been deeply involved in the medical industry and fully understand clinical needs. They have witnessed the changes and development of this market from the 1990s to today, and have strong international communication capabilities, which is the advantage of Mindy Summit.”
Innovation is an instinct
“Only through continuous innovation can we have an impact on the market, which also determines our future value.” Mindy Peak has focused on three major disease areas: congenital heart disease, arrhythmia, and valvular disease, precipitating several years of breakthrough technological innovation, which has become an instinct of the enterprise industry.
China is the largest country suffering from cardiovascular diseases, with over 2 million children with congenital heart disease alone. However, domestic resources of interventional stents and valve products suitable for children are still very scarce; Other data show that the risk of stroke among patients with atrial fibrillation is five times higher than that of the general population. In recent years, the number of patients with atrial fibrillation in China has increased.
The Rise of “Chinese style” Medical Technology Innovation | Peptide Chain Dialogue: Midi Summit Meng Jian
Open data from China’s Cardiovascular Health and Disease Report 2020
It is not difficult to see that Maidi’s technological innovation at its peak is precisely aimed at laying out the treatment gap for cardiovascular diseases. Its research and development of the world’s only “pulmonic stent” (Pul Stent?) and the only “left atrial appendage closure system” (E-Clip?) in the domestic market that can clamp the left atrial appendage for patients with cardiogenic stroke have great market growth potential in the medium to long term.
In fact, whether it is a product approved for marketing or a product under research, Midea Summit aims more at filling the clinical needs and market technology gaps. Therefore, attributives such as “world first” and “domestically unique” are always added before their technologies and products.
In Meng Jian’s view, there are three core elements of medical technology innovation: patient needs, national needs, and market and technological needs.
To innovate in medical technology, the primary consideration should be given to the clinical treatment needs of patients. “Medical innovation must follow clinical needs, and it is necessary to identify pain points that need to be addressed in clinical settings.” Meng Jian believes that medical device companies should break away from the narrow thinking of profit orientation and consider innovation needs from the perspective of patients, which is the most basic direction of technology research and development and the essential purpose of the medical industry.
The second is national needs. Nowadays, in many industrial fields, Chinese enterprises are facing the dilemma of being “stuck” by foreign technology manufacturers. Therefore, it is necessary for enterprises to assume the responsibility and obligation to reverse the monopoly market situation of imported technologies and products.
Moreover, it is to lock in the market and technological needs. Meng Jian mentioned that it is necessary to do the technology and products that are blank in the market, so that enterprises will not fall into the “market insiders” or “centralized procurement dilemma.”.
Having seen the wave of windfall profits generated by the commercialization of cardiac stents, and also witnessed the government’s centralized procurement of cardiac stents that slashed the price of products to the “ankle”, Meng Jian believes that what Maidi needs to do at its peak is “develop new technologies and products, explore new markets”. As long as the technology is leading, the product pricing power will have a higher degree of autonomy.
Thinking about human suffering as a physician can help teams continuously update their understanding of clinical needs; Exploring the logic of innovation with entrepreneurial thinking is conducive to accelerating the commercialization of company innovation results and benefiting patients.
For the future, Meng Jian believes that medical technology innovation will no longer be a single technological innovation in a specialized field, but will enter the stage of systematic innovation. The development of medical technology in the future must be a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary composite technology structure as a support for clinical treatment.
For example, “Heart Brain Tongzhi” is a multi-disciplinary and technological interdisciplinary field that is worth exploring, which is also the business direction that Mindy has grasped at its peak.
“Positive Cycle” of Value
For technological innovation enterprises in the field of medical devices, the other side of clinical application is the realization of commercial value. This is another test as difficult as technological innovation.
“Divide the development of the past 16 years into simple stages, Meng Jian told Polypeptide Chain that before 2012, it was the stage where Maidi Summit focused on the layout, team building, and foundation consolidation of the three main tracks;”; The eight year period from 2012 to 2020 is the stage of finalizing product lines and products, achieving breakthroughs in research and development, and obtaining product marketing qualifications.
Now, it’s time for Meng Jian and Maidi to face the challenge of commercialization. With the world’s first “pulmonary artery stent” Pul Stent The only “left atrial appendage closure system” in China, E-Clip? How to successfully launch innovative products into the market is a key step in determining the value of Mindy Summit’s enterprise, as core products such as Mindy have obtained marketing qualifications.
“As a medical technology innovation enterprise, innovation cannot be stopped, and we must also demonstrate the value of innovation. Therefore, since last year, we have increased investment in commercialization, expanded our team, and expanded channels.” Meng Jian hopes that by promoting commercialization, Mindy Summit can form a positive cycle of commercial value and innovative value, and thereby achieve the sustainability of innovation.
Medical device industry enterprises have a complex and long cycle from technological research and development to the commercialization of products, which is full of uncertainty. Therefore, at this stage, Maidi Summit will also seek development and support in the capital market.
According to the China Cardiovascular Health and Disease Report 2020, there are 330 million patients with cardiovascular diseases in China, and the incidence rate is still rising. It can be predicted that companies such as Mindy Summit, which are at the forefront of the racetrack and possess core technologies and products, will inevitably become highly focused investment targets once they enter the capital market.
Regarding the development of a company that has reached its peak from the perspective of capital value, Meng Jian believes that market participants should maintain rationality and that capital logic must match industrial development logic to reflect the long-term value of an excellent company’s development.
“The development of Class III medical device products may take ten or fifteen years, which cannot withstand the turnover and toss of capital in a short period of time. Entrepreneurs should maintain their long-term interests rather than blindly pursue the pleasure of short-term profits.”
In contrast, Meng Jian is still more accustomed to viewing the long-term value of Maidi Peak from the medical essence. In his view, the primary task of the domestic medical service market is to adjust and deepen the understanding of disease prevention and control, not only to “tailor the medicine to the case”, but also to early prevention and long-term control, and provide a full cycle treatment management plan.
“In the process of governance, if there is less intervention, there will be less intervention, and if there is early intervention, there will be early intervention.”
Meng Jian stated to Polypeptide Chain that in the field of congenital heart disease, Maidi Summit proposed “maternal and fetal screening, birth treatment, and lifelong intervention” to provide patients with a full life cycle treatment plan; In the field of arrhythmia, the concept of “simultaneous treatment of heart and brain, stroke intervention” was proposed; In the field of valve disease, emphasis is placed on “anatomical correction and hemodynamic improvement.”.
“We hope to focus on patients, focus on the entire life cycle, and become an internationally renowned provider of integrated solutions for cardiovascular diseases.” This is also Meng Jian’s basic positioning for the future development of Mindy Summit.
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