DoNews reported on May 14 that recently, Beijing Zhiyu Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhiyu Medical") announced the official completion of the Pre-A++ round of financing of nearly 100 million yuan. The financing was led by Chende Capital, followed by Legend Star, and the old shareholders Shunwei Capital, Eli Lilly Asia Ventures, and Zhonghai Investment continued to invest.
In the three years since its establishment, Zhiyu Medical has completed multiple rounds of financing, and the funds raised in this round of over-financing will be used for the clinical trial of its core product metaFlow high-energy water jet autonomous execution surgical robot (waterknife surgical robot), as well as the research and development layout of new product pipelines.
In 2021, Shunwei invested in the angel round of financing of "Smart Healing Medical", and has continued to support it in subsequent rounds of financing.
Healinno focuses on the R&D and manufacturing of intelligent diagnosis and treatment equipment, and is committed to providing patients with safer, more efficient and moderate treatment options. The company focuses on leading innovative products for minimally invasive urological surgery, interventional surgery and natural orifice surgery.
The team is a global leader in medical imaging devices, robotics and energy devices, with a proven track record in R&D, manufacturing, and product commercialization. The company takes urology as the school heart and creates the end of intelligent surgery.
Zhiyu Medical adheres to independent research and development and pursues original innovation. The company has simultaneously developed a number of world-leading innovative energy devices and surgical robot platforms, and is determined to become a global leader in intelligent surgery.
Its self-developed metaFlow️ high-energy waterjet autonomous execution surgical robot (waterjet surgical robot) is China's first and internationally leading innovative medical product, which has achieved dual innovation in robotics technology and clinical procedures for urological prostatic hyperplasia surgery, and the product has entered registered clinical trials.
Urology is a huge single specialty market worldwide. According to QYResearch's Global Urology Devices Market Report 2023-2029, the global urology devices market size is expected to reach $7.25 billion in 2029, growing at a CAGR of 7.8%.
The huge field of urology has attracted many capitals to chase it. In May 2021, Olympus completed the acquisition of Medi-Tate, an Israeli medical device company; In September of the same year, Boston Scientific announced the completion of the $1.07 billion acquisition of the global surgical business of Chemist; Around the same time, GE Healthcare announced the acquisition of BK Medical for $1.45 billion; In October 2023, Laborie Medical acquired Urotronic, Inc., a urology balloon company, for $600 million...... A series of high-profile M&A cases have highlighted the importance that business giants attach to the urology product market.
Among them, BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) is one of the largest diseases in urology. BPH is an age-increasing disorder that increases with age, with > 50% of males at age 60 and up to 83% at age 80. In addition, BPH is a slowly progressive disease with progressive symptoms that worsen with age and is associated with complications such as bladder stones, acute urinary retention, and renal impairment.
The base of patients with urological diseases in mainland China is very large, and with the aging of the domestic population, the incidence of BPH is increasing year by year. It is important to note that the treatment of urological diseases is not only related to the health of the patient, but also needs to fully consider the patient's postoperative recovery and quality of life, and more and more patients with BPH want to undergo radical surgery while preserving erectile function.
At present, the main surgical treatment of prostatic hyperplasia is transurethral resection of the prostate TURP and laser surgery, which has pain points such as thermal injury caused by instrument energy, long learning curve for doctors, low resection efficiency, long postoperative recovery observation time, and erectile dysfunction, and the clinical needs are far from being met.
Waterjet, as the name suggests, is to use water as a knife. It was first used in industrial production to sharpen the material by the impact cutting action formed by the jet of water from the fine pore size. In recent years, with the continuous improvement of medical high-pressure water pumps and orifice surgical instruments, waterjets have gradually been introduced into the field of surgery and become a new type of surgical instrument.
As the core key technology, the high-pressure piston pump used in the medical waterjet booster system is clearly listed as one of the 35 key points to break through during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period.
Based on profound clinical insights and market analysis, through nearly 4 years of technical research, Zhiyu Medical has made breakthroughs in a number of key technologies such as intelligent surgical planning, waterjet pressurization technology, precise control of water jet and integration of robotic instruments, and independently developed the metaFlow️ high-energy waterjet autonomous execution surgical robot (waterjet surgical robot). It is suitable for the surgical treatment of patients with moderate and severe BPH, and realizes safe and efficient heatless selective resection through precise positioning, intelligent planning, automatic execution, and real-time monitoring.
During the operation, the surgeon operates the waterjet surgical robot and uses the real-time image of ultrasound to accurately map the target area of gland resection. The robot then precisely controls the waterjet to automatically and quickly complete the removal.
The corresponding robotic high-energy waterjet resection of the prostate integrates the characteristics of the waterjet itself as no heat, high efficiency and selective resection, and is accurately controlled by the computer and automatically executed by the robot, marking the bladder neck and the area around the sperm mons during the operation to avoid it, and making a fine cut suitable for the individual shape with unique parameters during the operation.
This technology not only standardizes and automates the surgical process of prostatic hyperplasia, but also shortens the surgical removal time that used to take 1 hour to about 5 minutes. At the same time, thermal injury is avoided, the risk of surgical complications is reduced, the patient's sexual function is better preserved, and the patient can recover and discharge more quickly. The standardization and automation of the waterjet surgical robot also ensures the uniformity of the surgical effect of different years of operation.
It is worth noting that the intelligent planning and guidance technology of intraoperative ultrasound images of Zhiyu Medical can automatically avoid key anatomical parts such as sperm mons and ejaculatory ducts in advance during preoperative planning, so as to protect the patient's ejaculation and urinary control function to the greatest extent. During the operation, the technology uses an image-guided robot to control the water flow to carry out standardized and quantifiable non-thermal resection of prostate tissue, making the whole operation three-dimensional visual, safer and more efficient.
In December 2023, the metaFlow high-energy waterjet autonomous surgical robot and metaBlade disposable water-powered knife head passed the review of the National Medical Products Administration and were approved to enter the special review procedure for innovative medical devices, that is, to enter the "green channel" for medical device approval.
In the same month, the team of Professor Liu Ming, director of the Department of Urology of Beijing Hospital, successfully completed the first clinical trial operation of the waterjet robot in China.
According to Professor Liu Ming, waterjet robotic surgery for prostatic hyperplasia is a new surgical method that uses high-speed saline jets to remove prostate tissue. The extent of the removal of the gland is planned by the doctor with the help of intraoperative ultrasound images, and the target tissue is accurately and automatically removed by using robotic technology to control the waterjet.
Combined with the characteristics of waterjet itself without heat, high efficiency and tissue selective cutting, the waterjet robotic surgery is precisely controlled by the computer, giving full play to the advantages of the robot's automatic operation, liberating the surgeon's hands, greatly reducing the doctor's repetitive operation, and protecting the patient's urinary control and sexual function to the greatest extent.
Robotic high-energy waterjet cutting has been recommended by the three major clinical guidelines of AUA in the United States, EAU in Europe, and CUDA in China, and the research and development of Zhiyu Medical Waterjet Robot has filled the gap in the field of BPH innovative surgery in China.
At present, Zhiyu Medical has established cooperative relations with a number of MNC medical device companies, and has carried out production, learning, research and medical cooperation with domestic double first-class universities and many top tertiary hospitals.
In terms of product pipeline layout, Zhiyu Medical is taking the unique path of matrix development of a variety of energy devices and surgical robot platforms, and simultaneously develops a number of world-leading innovative energy devices and surgical robot platforms. The company's second and third pipeline product research and development has successively entered the animal experiment stage.