(Yicai) Nov. 7 -- Digital transformation is the biggest development in surgery and the infrastructure China is building, such as fifth-generation networking and artificial intelligence, can definitely help transform healthcare, the general manager of surgery at Johnson & Johnson MedTech's country arm said at the eighth China International Import Expo.

"China is the second biggest market for medtech in the world," Tulio Oliveira told Yicai at the CIIE, which opened on Nov. 5 and runs through Nov. 10 in Shanghai. "Almost 20 percent of the global business is here, but the clinical expertise that China has been developing with all those volumes, the clinical volume allows China for medical development."

Indiana-based J&J MedTech has shown over 10 products for the first time globally or in China at the CIIE, including making the Asia debut of its Ethicon 4000, a chip-embedded three-dimensional surgical stapler. Its growing local manufacturing, research, and development footprint reflects a broader shift in how multinational medtech companies operate in the country.

In addition, J&J MedTech has set up a local digital and robotics business unit to integrate various systemts, incluidng Monarch, its flexible, robotically assisted platform for bronchoscopy, the Carina platform from its Chinese robotics ally Ronovo Surgical, which can address the clinical needs of urological, thoracic, gynecological, and general surgeons, and a localized version of its global Velys digital surgery platform.

China's strong AI and 5G infrastructure provides a unique environment for data-driven surgical innovation, Oliveira noted. J&J MedTech's upcoming Chinese version of Velys will comply with local data standards and support integration of multiple surgical technologies, he said.

"Capital like robotics, digital solutions, applications, and consumables like instruments getting together to deliver much more value," Oliveira pointed out.

From Imports to Made in China

Products J&J MedTech once introduced to China through the CIIE are now being developed and made locally. The Harmonic 7S ultrasonic scalpel, the company's first China-made surgical device, went from approval in late last year to commercialization in four months, serving thousands of patients.

"We can build a more resilient organization, as also we can leverage the country's capabilities for innovation," Oliveira noted.

J&J MedTech's Suzhou plant produces energy devices, staplers, and sutures. Local teams are also designing products tailored to surgical needs in China, including an antibacterial laparoscopic suture and a fibrillar hemostatic agent cleared through the nation's innovation green channel.

Collaboration Over Competition

J&J MedTech announced a partnership with Ronovo earlier this year. The Shanghai-based company's Haishan-1 laparoscopic robot is China's first modular system cleared for multiple specialties.

"I'm more excited about the possibilities of the capabilities in China than looking at it as just competition," Oliveira pointed out. "Collaboration is definitely one way to better deliver value to the system.

"We have so many needs to solve," he said. "When you think about the biggest transformation in medtech, especially in surgery, that is digital robotics. We see more opportunities for consumables, capital, and software to come together, creating new ecosystems to tackle healthcare issues as we were never able to do before."

The Monarch robotic platform highlights this spillover success. Making its Asia debut at the fourth CIIE in 2021 and launched at the sixth in 2023, it operates in multiple Chinese hospitals, enabling physicians to diagnose and treat deep lung lesions through natural pathways without external incisions.

Editor: Martin Kadiev