Kazi Hasan Media: China Inc. Snares Bionik Laboratories, A Small Neurorobotics Company
NEW YORK, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- New York Times published 'China's Ill and Wealthy, Look Abroad for Medical Treatment' this week. It states last year 500,000 Chinese travelled abroad for treatment, up five folds from 2015. Some came here and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. Chinese Healthcare sadly ranks 92 out of 188 countries. Government provides cradle to grave health insurance for 97% population but standards have not kept up with rising living standards. It is well recognized that standards must rise rapidly. Additionally, demand for state of the art private sector healthcare is very strong. China has a two- tier economy, with affluent households totaling about 100 million.
'An untapped gold mine with huge potential' is how the Chinese healthcare market is described. For US companies, entering China was not cheap. For example, Medtronic acquired China Kanghui Holdings, a manufacturer of Orthopedic products for $816 million of which $750 million was for Goodwill and Intangible Assets.
As China Inc. became a major pool of capital, it started investing vigorously in healthcare. Last month, Dalian Wanda embarked on a $10 billion venture to build healthcare facilities. China Inc. invested about $4 billion last year to acquire overseas healthcare assets. Creat Group of China acquired Bio Products Laboratory of UK, maker of blood plasma products for $1.2 billion. Chinese are determined to have better healthcare.
Why then is the investment by Ginger Capital of China in tiny neurorobotics firm Bionik Laboratories so unique considering that the 13th 5 year plan is closing opportunities in China for US high-tech biopharmaceuticals and robotics firms? Bionik with it's close association with MIT has deep reservoir of knowledge and products in neurorobotics which has been tested on 1,000 patients. Its primary focus is providing robot assisted rehabilitation for stroke victims with loss of mobility. China has unique demographics because of One Child policy. In 2020 roughly 25% of the population will be retirement age. Millions of Chinese stroke victims will need some form of rehabilitation therapy. Bionik has three FDA cleared and a large pipeline products. It is for this that China made an exception and after yearlong due diligence decided to directly invest into Bionik Laboratories here and separately in a joint-venture in China.
Finally, it's worth noting that Ginger Capital is run by women, a rarity in China.
About Kazi Hasan Media
Kazi Hasan Media has been providing Global Communications and Market Research services to High-Tech Enterprises and Investment Firms for five years. Based in New York, the company serves clients in the US, Canada and Asia.
Kazi Hasan Media
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