Tianjin Chase Sun Pharmaceutical is leapfrogging from the ancient to the future, as it moves from producing traditional Chinese medicines into making wearable medical devices.
China Daily reports that Chase Sun, based in the northeastern Chinese city of Tianjin, is extending its lines of business into wearble medical technology.
Specifically, the company aims to manufacture blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters and sleep monitors for consumer use.
In an effort to grow beyond its roots as a maker of traditional medicines, Chase Sun has established various new industry clusters such as wearable medical products, medical apparatus products and internet-based therapy.
Established in 1996, the company’s growth prospects switched into overdrive after Chase Sun was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2009. Since then it has used a strategy of mergers and acquisitions to diversify into new industries.
For example, it paid $238 million to acquire Beijing Choice Electronic Tech last year. The acquisition of the medical monitoring equipment maker gave Chase Sun added capacity to expand into the wearable medical device segment.
Chase Sun not only ones chasing health wearables
Chase Sun’s expansion comes as reports indicate that the global healthcare market for medical wearables will grow at a rate of 30% by 2020.
A recent study by research firm Frost & Sullivan predicts the global healthcare market for wearable devices will blossom from $5.1 billion in 2015 to $18.9 billion in 2020. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.9%.
The report also found that connected consumer health devices will post a CAGR of almost 28% while growth in clinical-grade wearables will reach nearly 33%.
As populations of seniors are growing worldwide, so grows the market for devices that can manage such ailments as diabetes and chronic pain. And with wealth concentrating among the aging populations in many countries, medical wearables will enjoy a more affluent customer base in the medium term.
Another recent study indicates that the medical wearable devices market is expected to grow over 16% by 2023 thanks to seniors with more money to spend on technology to ease their chronic pain and diabetes.
The worldwide medical wearables market is expected to increase from $2.73 billion in 2014 to $10.7 billion by 2023, amounting to a compound annual growth rate of 16.4% between 2015 and 2023.
