(Hong Kong, Shanghai, 29 July 2021) Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter “Ping An” or the “Group”, HKEX: 2318; SSE: 601318) announced that Ping An-Shionogi Co., Ltd. (Ping An-Shionogi), a joint venture between Ping An and Shionogi & Co., Ltd., has been launched in Shanghai. 

Ping An-Shionogi is a Healthcare as a Service (HaaS) enterprise, an integrated medical and healthcare platform, for public health and patients. The joint venture is a collaboration between the Ping An and Shionogi in drug research, development, production and sales. It is based on Ping An's sophisticated healthcare ecosystem and advanced digital technology and Shionogi’s strengths in drug research and development. Using Ping An's leading healthtech capabilities, resources and advantages in insurance and financial services, and Shionogi's drug development capability and experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Ping An-Shionogi is committed to providing customers with personalized health management solutions, including exercise suggestions, medical prescriptions on over-the-counter drugs, vaccines, new drugs for different stages of healthcare including disease prevention, diagnosis, medical prescription and follow-up visits. It will create a new benchmark for the healthcare industry.

Ping An's strong digital capability is enabling Ping An-Shionogi to speed up drug development with data for specific diseases. It also uses Shionogi’s pharmaceutical research center to explore new drugs and conduct drug research and development in a more efficient and effective way.

Ping An-Shionogi will also draw on Ping An’s abundant medical resources to explore a new rapid clinical trial enrollment model to promote Shionogi’s development of new drugs in China. Two new types of drugs developed by Shionogi are being promoted according to the plan.

In terms of production, Ping An-Shionogi will build a new drug production system and implement the first digital management mechanism for pharmaceutical manufacturing in China. It will automate instructions and maintain digital records in the pharmaceutical production process and speed up drug development to enhance the quality and efficiency of medical and healthcare services.

In sales, Ping An-Shionogi is using Ping An's healthcare ecosystem to promote high-quality prescription drugs and health products such as Japanese over-the-counter drugs owned by Shionogi. It is also expanding its offline sales territory. Currently, Ping An-Shionogi’s professional sales team has 340 people selling 15 products. It has covers 31 provinces and cities, with more than 100,000 pharmacies, clinics and health centers.

Jessica Tan, Co-CEO of Ping An Group, said, “The growth of the healthcare ecosystem is one of Ping An’s long-term core strategies. Ping An-Shionogi is an important step in Ping An’s healthcare ecosystem development. Ping An will leverage its solid customer base, leading healthcare technology capabilities and healthcare service platform to support the development of the joint venture, and will work with Shionogi to contribute to the improvement of people’s health.”

Tatsumori Yoshida, Chairman and CEO of Ping An-Shionogi, said, “Ping An-Shionogi will integrate Ping An’s world-leading artificial intelligence technology with Shionogi’s research experience for new drug development and transforming the landscape of the pharmaceutical industry to promote the health of Chinese citizens. We will fulfill the increasing need for healthcare services and strive for a better society by relentlessly upgrading our service.”

         Photo: Launch ceremony of Ping An-Shionogi in Shanghai

As a world-leading technology-powered retail financial services group, Ping An is committed to advancing its technological capabilities. Every year, it allocates 1% of its operating income to research and development (R&D) of innovative technologies, with a large portion invested in the development of the healthcare ecosystem. As of the end of 2020, Ping An had a world-leading healthcare database with the world’s largest number of healthtech patent applications. Ping An also has the largest internet healthcare traffic portal in China and a leading offline healthcare service provider network.

Osaka, Japan-based Shionogi & Co. has more than 100 years of experience in pharmaceutical and clinical trials. It was founded in 1878 and has built a special functional center for new drug research. It has strong capabilities for drug discovery and R&D. Shionogi is also committed to the overall management of infectious diseases from prevention to diagnosis to suppression.

Demand for social healthcare is increasing in China, with its aging population. There are few domestic innovative drugs with independent intellectual property rights, and generic drugs are a mainstay of the market. There is room for improvement in drug safety and efficiency. Ping An-Shionogi will fully utilize the strengths of the two joint venture partners, continue to optimize the healthcare service model and improve drug innovation. It will empower the healthcare industry with technology, provide customers with more diversified medical and health services, and support the national "Healthy China" strategy.