Shenzhen's medical device industry demonstrates its strength, becoming a key force in the global epidemic prevention and control "equipment defense line"

Shenzhen New Industry Biomedical Company's newly developed chemiluminescence detection reagent for the novel coronavirus has become the world's first such product to obtain the CE mark and be publicly sold in the EU. The first batch of 20,000 test reagents has been urgently shipped and will arrive in Italy shortly; Shenzhen BGI Genomics, responding to the national call, has donated novel coronavirus nucleic acid detection kits to countries such as Japan, and has provided epidemic prevention materials to a total of 26 countries and regions.

Recently, Shenzhen medical device companies, which have performed excellently in China's epidemic prevention and control work, have also gained recognition in international epidemic prevention and control efforts. These companies' various technological researches on novel coronavirus detection and auxiliary treatment have been at the forefront of the country and even the world, with a large portion of these supplies donated to the front lines of epidemic prevention and control in China and globally. Shenzhen's medical device industry has become an important force in epidemic prevention and control in China and worldwide.

BGI Genomics can be considered one of the most outstanding medical device companies in China's fight against the epidemic. BGI Genomics' novel coronavirus nucleic acid detection kit was one of the first epidemic prevention reagents officially approved for market launch in China through the emergency approval process of the National Medical Products Administration. On January 14, BGI Genomics had already urgently completed the development of the RT-PCR novel coronavirus nucleic acid detection kit and quickly sent it to Hubei. As of February 23, BGI Genomics had produced over 1.14 million novel coronavirus test kits. The "Fire Eye" laboratory, jointly built by BGI Genomics, the Wuhan Municipal Government, and China Communications Second Harbor Bureau, designed and operated by BGI Genomics, is considered the vanguard of numerous anti-epidemic "fortresses" such as Leishenshan, Huoshenshan, and Fangcang hospitals. As of February 24, it has completed over 215,000 novel coronavirus nucleic acid tests, including over 56,000 in Hubei Province.

As a leading global provider of medical devices and solutions, on January 26, Mindray Medical's Shenzhen manufacturing center began rushing to supply the urgent needs of the front line and completed the requirements for approximately 1,800 units of equipment for Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital and approximately 1,200 units for Leishenshan Hospital on schedule. During the entire Spring Festival period, the number of employees who resumed work ahead of schedule at the Shenzhen Guangming Mindray manufacturing center reached more than 1,400. During the epidemic prevention and control period, not only R&D personnel and engineers, but even employees from administrative systems, IT, finance, and HR departments were assigned to production lines. As of February 17, the Mindray manufacturing center has produced and delivered over 35,000 medical devices to hospitals nationwide, providing important support for the clinical treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia in China.

Shenzhen YHLO is a medical device company focusing on in-vitro diagnostic immunology products. After the publication of the novel coronavirus nucleic acid detection sequence, YHLO's R&D personnel overcame the challenges of gene engineering expression, purification, and mass production of virus-specific proteins. On February 3, they successfully developed a fully automated chemiluminescence immunoassay kit for novel coronavirus IgM and IgG antibodies, increasing the positive detection rate of novel coronavirus pneumonia from the initial 85.2% to 96.4%. After completing mass production, YHLO immediately donated nearly 100,000 test reagents to Hubei.

There are many similar examples. "Shenzhen has always been an important industrial cluster area for the medical device industry in China and has benefited from years of government policy support. This time, it is our companies' time to be tested by the nation and to give back to society." said a relevant person in charge of a medical device company in Shenzhen.

Shenzhen's medical device industry is a leading one domestically. In 2018, Shenzhen's medical device industry output value exceeded 40 billion yuan, accounting for approximately 8% of China's total medical device market size, with an export value of 14.606 billion yuan, ranking first in the country for many consecutive years. In the first half of 2019, Shenzhen's pharmaceutical manufacturing industry grew by 11.4%. Currently, there are over 800 companies in Shenzhen that have obtained production registration for Class I medical devices and production licenses for Class II and III medical devices.

Shenzhen's medical device industry was initially built on the foundation of the electronics industry. Currently, the mechatronics industry is highly developed and concentrated. New digital imaging technologies for clinical diagnosis, new repair material preparation technologies, major chronic disease screening and diagnostic equipment, in-vitro diagnostic equipment and reagents, etc., are all strengths of Shenzhen's medical device companies.