On February 7th, Intuitive Fosun officially announced that Dr. Liu Qijun has joined the company and taken over as CEO, stationed in the Shanghai office.

Since November 15, 2024, when Pan Xiaofeng, the former CEO of Intuitive Fosun, officially retired, this news has caused a "huge uproar" in the medical equipment industry. Since then, it has been uncertain who will replace the new CEO. Finally, three months later, Intuitive Fosun has welcomed a new leader.

Newly appointed CEO takes office
Robot surgery is hailed as the "third technological revolution" in the field of surgery, marking a new milestone in the development of modern surgery. Although China started relatively late in the field of robotic surgery, the huge demand has driven the rapid development of this technology. In this technological revolution, Intuitive Surgery quickly gained a foothold in the global operating room market with its revolutionary product - the da Vinci surgical robot.

Former CEO Pan Xiaofeng, as a senior medical device expert with nearly 20 years of rich experience in the global medical device industry, has led Intuitive Fosun to achieve significant achievements in the field of medical technology, especially in the field of robot assisted surgical systems. The company's products have been widely used worldwide. Pan Xiaofeng's retirement marks the end of an era for the company, while also bringing opportunities and challenges for the new leadership.

With Pan Xiaofeng's retirement, Da Vinci is facing new challenges in the global market, especially in China. Against the backdrop of continuous pressure from the National Healthcare Security Administration on the price of surgical robots, how Da Vinci can maintain its leading position in fierce competition has become a focus of attention in the industry.

However, the newly appointed CEO Liu Fujun is no less impressive. Before taking office as the CEO of Intuitive Fosun, Liu Qijun was a co-founder, chairman of the board, and CEO of WuXi AppTec. WuXi AppTec is a joint venture between WuXi AppTec and Mayo Clinic. Under the leadership of Liu Qijun, WuXi AppTec has developed and deployed AI driven diagnostic tools for over 300 hospitals in China, demonstrating its outstanding ability to lead complex collaborative relationships and achieve transformative results.

And before joining WuXi AppTec, Liu Fu had held leadership positions in several well-known multinational medical device and technology companies, including being responsible for the Asia Pacific business of Hologic and Life Technologies, and had considerable experience in the medical technology industry. The addition of Liu Qijun is seen as an important step for Fosun's globalization strategy and innovation capabilities.

Regarding the challenges after taking office, Liu Qijun stated that he will continue to drive innovation in the field of robot assisted surgical systems and actively explore new market opportunities.

Focused on surgical robots
Intuitive Fosun is a company focused on medical technology, dedicated to developing and promoting advanced robot assisted surgical systems. The company was established in 2016 as a joint venture between Intuitive Surgical in the United States and Fosun Pharma in China. Among them, Intuitive Surgery holds 60% of the shares, while Fosun Pharma holds the remaining 40%.

At present, the product pipeline of Intuitive Fosun is centered around the da Vinci surgical system, which is an advanced robot assisted surgical system that can provide doctors with more accurate and flexible surgical operations. The Da Vinci surgical system has completed millions of surgeries worldwide and is widely used in fields such as urology, gynecology, and thoracic surgery.

Based on the advantages of Da Vinci surgical robot products, Intuitive Surgery not only achieved high growth performance, but also once became the world's leading medical enterprise in terms of market value. In 2024, its global revenue was $8.4 billion (+17%), with a year-on-year increase of 29% in net revenue. On January 22nd, due to the release of considerable fourth quarter revenue, the stock price of Intuitive Surgery soared to a historic high of $608, with a market value of $216.2 billion. In the past year, its stock price has grown by 60.75%.

At the same time, Intuitive Fosun is also working hard to develop a new generation of robot assisted surgical systems. The new generation of products will place greater emphasis on operational flexibility and intelligence, enabling real-time analysis of surgical data through artificial intelligence technology and providing doctors with more accurate operational recommendations.

In addition, Intuitive Fosun is also exploring remote surgical solutions aimed at achieving high-precision surgical operations across regions through 5G networks and cloud computing technology, providing support for areas with scarce medical resources.

However, although Da Vinci robots are highly favored in the international market, the challenges for this series of products in the Chinese market are still enormous due to high prices and configuration certificates. According to public information, as of 2024, Da Vinci surgical robots have been installed in a total of 121 units under the latest quota for 2023 in China (559 units). Although surgical robots were still a hot commodity in the capital market two or three years ago, in 2024, surgical robot companies will face consecutive setbacks in the capital market, which will also bring considerable challenges to surgical robot equipment companies.

However, it is worth noting that from a policy perspective, China has frequently implemented incentive policies for surgical robots, and national level policy support has injected strong impetus into this emerging field.

Therefore, in terms of market expansion, Intuitive Fosun will continue to deeply cultivate the Chinese market, while accelerating its layout in emerging markets such as Asia and Africa. The company plans to promote robot assisted surgery technology through cooperation with local medical institutions and improve global medical standards.

Conclusion
The addition of Liu Qijun also symbolizes that Intuitive Fosun has entered a new stage of development. The appointment of a new CEO will undoubtedly bring new vitality and strategic direction to Intuitive Fosun. In the future, we look forward to Intuitive Fosun continuing to lead the development trend of medical technology under Liu Qijun's leadership and making greater contributions to the global medical industry.

Source: https://news.yaozh.com/archive/44956.html