Digitization Makes TEDA a Leading Place for Digital Healthcare

At home, with just a few clicks, you can make online appointments, consult with doctors, check reports, and even undergo online follow-ups.

In pharmacies, by connecting remotely with pharmacists miles away through smart devices, patients can purchase medications with targeted guidance.

In optical stores, customers not only get their glasses fitted but also benefit from a comprehensive examination using an intelligent eye screening machine. In just a few minutes, a screening report is generated, including imaging information, visual results, eye pressure readings, and an assessment of the risk of eye diseases.

All these are common scenes in the lives of TEDA residents. Currently, with the further integration and innovation of digital technology and the medical industry ecosystem, TEDA’s digital healthcare applications continue to expand. As they deeply influence people’s lives, they also drive the continuous development of the industry.

TEDA’s digital healthcare industry started early. Since pioneering the establishment of self-built internet hospitals in the northern region of China in 2019, TEDA has been continuously expanding and innovating in the field of “Internet + Healthcare.” While replicating and promoting the original internet hospital model, it has guided enterprises to horizontally extend into high-value-added sectors such as pharmaceutical e-commerce, online research service platforms, digital therapy, etc., creating a new landmark for the entire industry chain of digital healthcare.

To seize the development track of the industry, TEDA actively explores innovative models for administrative licensing in the digital healthcare industry. It has opened a green channel for the entire process of digital therapy industry registration, approval, operation, and intellectual property declaration. In February 2023, the Tianjin Binhai-Zhongguancun Digital Healthcare Industrial Park was established. This industrial park provides a comprehensive range of policy implementation services for enterprises, including internet hospital licenses, digital therapy CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization), verification collection, medical insurance access, etc. It continuously introduces industrial resources, efficiently promoting the accelerated aggregation of digital healthcare projects.

In 2023, several health management platforms such as Hengrui Medicine’s Kangshi and Fuxun settled in TEDA. LinkDoc and Susu Technology’s digitalized research business continued to expand. Leading projects under the Genertec Group, including the headquarters of the Global Yuegu Nephropathy Specialty, were launched. TEDA’s digital healthcare industry shows a strong development momentum. As of now, TEDA has gathered more than 50 leading national digital healthcare enterprises, including YSB, Hengrui EdocCloud, JD Health, Cowell Health, Xinhua Pharmaceutical, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group and Yunnan Baiyao, accelerating the trend of industry aggregation and development.

The development of the digital healthcare industry is closely linked to the rapid advancement of digital technology. In recent years, TEDA has attached great importance to the development of the digital economy. By promoting the deep integration of digital technology with the concept of Manufacturing Industry-based TEDA, TEDA has established a focus on industries such as digital healthcare.

As the location of the new generation supercomputer “Tianhe,” the National SuperComputer Center in Tianjin actively promotes the industrial application of data and has become an indispensable platform for nation-wide new drug development, genetic sequencing, brain science, bioinformation, clinical trials, and other fields. The collaboration between Hangzhou Prime Life Science and Technology Co., Ltd., and the National SuperComputer Center in Tianjin stems from this initiative. This technology-innovative company engaged in digital clinical research has a strong demand for secure data storage, and the powerful computing support and platform system of the National SuperComputer Center in Tianjin can fully meet the company’s needs. In April 2022, the two parties collaborated to deploy the Prime Life AI & Digital Empowered Clinical Research Technology Platform, and later that year, Hangzhou Prime Life Science and Technology established a subsidiary in TEDA. "We are attracted by the security of information storage and the professionalism of the services provided by National SuperComputer Center in Tianjin,” said Wang Zheng, the general manager of the company. “The users of the Tianhe platform include a large number of hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, pharmaceutical research institutes, and medical device manufacturers, which are also our potential customers.”

Currently, 5G technology has become a crucial engine for accelerating the development of digital economy. TEDA has deployed over 5,500 5G base stations, and medical institutions in the region continue to expand into new service areas. This has enabled the sharing of resources between medical equipment and healthcare experts, establishing a more precise healthcare service system with higher quality. TEDA Cardiovascular Hospital, leveraging a 5G medical private network, successfully conducted remote consultations and demonstrated applications for air emergency guidance. This allows patients in remote areas to access professional and high-quality intelligent healthcare services.

The application of digital technology has not only brought about breakthroughs in the field of medical treatment but has also injected new momentum into the biopharmaceutical industry. TEDA boasts a large number of globally renowned biopharmaceutical companies and high-level research institutions, establishing a competitive industry cluster. It has formed a complete industrial chain, including biopharmaceuticals, high-end medical devices, digital healthcare, genetic diagnosis and treatment, CRO, and more. Targeting key areas of industrial development, TEDA has formulated relevant policies and support measures. Under the promotion of TEDA, the Tianjin Food and Drug Administration has established a “1+3” model drug supervision and inspection technical service window in Binhai City, compressing the drug evaluation cycle and serving hundreds of pharmaceutical and medical device companies. The Tianjin Binhai New Area Intellectual Property Protection Center has opened a green channel for patent rapid pre-examination, rapid rights protection, and patent navigation operations, contributing to the development of the biopharmaceutical industry.

At the same time, pharmaceutical companies in TEDA are encouraged to conduct the integration and development of research and development, production, and sales with emerging information technologies such as big data and cloud computing. With the assistance of digital technology, the research and development and production processes of biopharmaceutical companies in the area are significantly optimized, and gene technology, vaccine processes, and precision therapy are greatly enhanced. Meanwhile, the growth of the pharmaceutical e-commerce transaction scale is driving further sales in the online channels of the biopharmaceutical sector, expanding the product market size continuously. “Empowered by digital technology, every aspect of the biopharmaceutical industry will achieve improvements in efficiency and precision,” said a relevant person in charge of TEDA.

Digitization not only accelerates efficiency improvements across various stages of the biopharmaceutical industry chain but also promotes the collaborative development of upstream and downstream enterprises. TEDA companies, CanSinoBio and JD Health, signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly create an “Internet + Disease Prevention” digital solution. LinkDoc signed comprehensive cooperation agreements with MSD, Novartis, AstraZeneca, and others, actively expanding into new areas such as smart pharmacies, intelligent diagnosis and treatment, health management, and innovative commercial insurance. Orange Family and Tianjin Jinyao Medical Technology signed an agreement to collaborate deeply in various areas, including the R&D of inhaled drug digital therapy, innovative models for combining drugs and medical devices in clinical trials, management of chronic respiratory disease patients, and digital marketing of innovative drugs. They aim to jointly explore the “digitization and intellectualization” of innovative modes in the pharmaceutical integration.

“TEDA has excellent support policies and a broad market. We hope to establish channels for communication and cooperation with various parties in the field of digital therapy, including government, manufacturer, academia, medical, and research institution,” said the person in charge of Beijing Health Hope Technology Co., Ltd., which has already settled in TEDA.