ROKIT Healthcare said on the 8th it signed a strategic partnership agreement with WEGO Group, the No. 1 corporations by market share in China's medical device sector, to commercialize an artificial intelligence (AI)-based hyper-personalized organ regeneration platform.
The agreement was pursued to align with President Lee Jae-myung's state visit to China as part of a business delegation. ROKIT Healthcare plans to kick off its entry into China's skin regeneration market, estimated at 1.4 trillion won, through its collaboration with WEGO Group.
WEGO Group is a medical device and healthcare corporations headquartered in Shandong, China, with a hospital network and distribution and logistics systems across the country. Under the partnership, WEGO Group will handle production, distribution, approvals, and other business operations in China.
ROKIT Healthcare expects to shorten the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approval process based on patents it has already secured in China. The company said commercialization and revenue generation in China could begin as early as the second half of this year.
WEGO Group reportedly cited ROKIT Healthcare's AI-based organ regeneration platform, multiple pipelines spanning skin, cartilage, and kidney regeneration, and additive-free cryoforming technology as reasons for the collaboration.
The two sides are targeting the markets for diabetic foot ulcers (DFU), burns, and skin cancer treatments. WEGO Group said the number of patients with these conditions in China is estimated at about 10 million, and that securing a 10% market share could create a market value of about $1 billion (about 1.4 trillion won).
A ROKIT Healthcare official said, "Through our collaboration with the No. 1 medical device corporations in China, we have built a stable local business structure," and added, "Starting in the second half of this year, our goal is to deliver tangible business results centered on the Chinese market."