Recently, Jiangsu Qihao Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as: Qihao Medical) announced that it has completed a series A financing of tens of millions of yuan, led by Hefei Industrial Investment Promotion Venture Capital Fund, Hefei Angel Investment Fund, Anhui Huaying Smart Material Joint funds and others followed up.   After this round of financing, Hefei Qihao Medical Technology Co., Ltd., the headquarters for the future development of the company, was formally established. The company will build a 1,000-square-meter purification production workshop in Hefei for the production of nasal sinus balloons that have completed pilot trials. And degradable (expandable) hemostatic cotton and other products.   Qihao Medical is a medical device company established in 2017 focusing on the subdivision of the otolaryngology circuit. After three years of design, research and development, testing and production, it has obtained a second-class certificate product and has been sold nationwide; 2 Three types of products (low-temperature plasma surgery system, fully degradable sinus drug stent system) are undergoing clinical trials in 7 domestic hospitals, and the clinical trials are progressing smoothly.   Comprehensive layout of ENT equipment, new product degradable (expandable) hemostatic cotton is eye-catching   It has been more than a year since Qihao Medical completed the Pre-A round of financing in 2019. What changes and upgrades have the company made during this year? Artery Network interviewed Dr. Yonggang Pang, the founder of Qihao Medical, and saw the progress and achievements of Qihao Medical this year from his description.   "Our most important change is in product research and development." Dr. Yonggang Pang told Artery Network, "First, we have further upgraded the degradation time of the fully degradable sinus drug stent and the sustained release time of the drug to achieve precise degradation and precise release; Second, our new product, degradable (expandable) hemostatic cotton, has been synthesized in the laboratory for more than a year, has completed the pilot test, and is shifting to production."   This biodegradable (expandable) hemostatic cotton is the first domestic ENT degradable hemostatic cotton created by the Qihao Medical R&D team after three years of unremitting technical research. It has been developed and will be produced in Hefei factory. image Degradable (expanding) hemostatic cotton (sample image)   It is worth mentioning that there is currently no degradable hemostatic cotton for ear, nose, and throat bleeding in China. Due to the special part (cavity) of ear, nose and throat bleeding, it is difficult to use sutures to stop the bleeding, and only hemostatic materials can be used to seal it. At present, there is only one absorbent cotton developed by a US medical device company in the world that can achieve hemostasis of the ear, nose and throat, and export to the world has formed a monopoly.   According to Dr. Yonggang Pang, the biodegradable (expandable) hemostatic cotton independently developed by Qihao Medical has shown that its performance exceeds that of imported products in the test. It is expected to break the import monopoly, realize domestic substitution, and benefit patients. Founder Pang Yonggang also emphasized: "Under the changing international situation, I deeply feel that if we do not make breakthroughs in polymer materials, it will be difficult to compete with Europe and the United States in terms of medical devices."   At present, this hemostatic cotton has entered the green channel for approval and belongs to the third category of national medical devices. It is believed that another good news from Qihao Medical will be ushered in soon.   Qihao Medical's ENT department also includes a low-temperature plasma surgery system, a fully degradable sinus drug stent, and a sinus balloon. The research and development of the sinus balloon has been completed, and trial production will start after the completion of the new plant in Hefei. Under the guidance of well-known domestic otolaryngology experts such as Peking University People’s Hospital, Shanghai Sixth Hospital, Guangzhou Zhongshan First Hospital, Qihao Medical’s next round of R&D of 4 new ENT products has been launched, and technological innovation breakthroughs in new products have been obtained. Thanks to the strong support and help of the company's chief scientist, Zhou Feng, deputy director of the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the company has established a joint laboratory for biomedical materials in Qihao with the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Technology.   Investors say: track and strength are two major factors that cannot be ignored   Different from medical companies that develop and produce single devices, Qihao Medical has a comprehensive layout for ENT. In addition to the four core products mentioned above, the company has several undisclosed backup pipelines. Founder Pang Yonggang said frankly: "Although there are many pipelines It will make it a bit more difficult for us to develop in the early stage, but the rich product pipeline will allow Qihao Medical to form a "joint force" in future technology promotion, doctor education, conference support, etc., which will make our future sales easier and improve the company's Anti-risk ability."   For the precise layout of Qihao Medical's entire products, this is attributed to the industrial experience accumulated by the founder, Yonggang Pang, in medical equipment for more than 20 years. Dr. Pang Yonggang has not only been a doctor who has been in the clinic for 7 years, but also has been in the sales of medical devices for several years. His comprehensive medical device experience allowed him to truly understand what the clinical otolaryngology department lacks, and what the company will deploy and truly achieve Benefit to the people.   Regarding the investment in Qihao Medical, the lead investor in this round of Hefei Investment Promotion Fund said: Medical and health is one of the key industries in Hefei. Hefei Investment Promotion Fund invests in support of Qihao Medical. The first is that the otolaryngology medical equipment that values its positioning has a promising market with good growth potential and development expectations; the second is to recognize the continuous R&D capabilities of its technical team And innovation; the third is to see that the prototype of its full product line is mature, and the product portfolio system is sound; the fourth is to trust Dr. Pang and his team’s deep accumulation in the industry. This time, the Hefei Industrial Investment Group's portfolio investment through investment promotion funds and angel funds will guide Qihao Medical to accelerate its development, and will continue to support enterprises in the future.   Liu Qin of the Hefei Angel Investment Fund said: “Hefei Angel Fund has always been focusing on supporting the development of Hefei’s early-stage technology-based enterprises. Medical care has been a key support area in Hefei in recent years. Qihao Medical has more expertise in the field of Otorhinolaryngology. Strong technical strength, the team has rooted in the medical industry for many years, the products cover multiple types of otolaryngology devices, the business model is clear and feasible, and the project meets the support targets of the Hefei Angel Fund. At the same time, the establishment of Qihao Medical in Hefei will help promote the development of Hefei's medical industry. In the future, our company will provide more comprehensive post-investment management services in terms of government resource docking, project declaration, investment and financing."   Liang Qining of Huaying Investment said: "Huaying Investment focuses on the domestic substitution of scarce medical resources and opportunities for medical informatization. We invest in Qihao Medical. On the one hand, we are optimistic about the large number of patients in domestic otolaryngology, adding 20 million annually. However, the development of domestic otolaryngology industry is relatively lagging behind. On the other hand, Qihao Medical focuses on developing a full set of products for the otolaryngology department. The product design is practical and the pain points in the market, and the clinical effect is excellent. Qihao Medical is a very scarce target. From a long-term perspective, we also very much agree with the product pipeline plan of Dr. Pang’s team. Through continued exploration and research and development, Qihao will have more innovative products in the ENT field in the future to provide overall Solutions to solve the patient’s pain."   About Hefei Investment Group   Hefei Industrial Investment Holdings (Group) Co., Ltd. was established in March 2015. It was formed by the merger of Hefei State-owned Assets Holding Co., Ltd. and Hefei Industrial Investment Holding Co., Ltd. As one of the three major platform companies under the Hefei State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the group is positioned as a state-owned capital operating company for industrial investment and financing and innovation promotion. The group has a registered capital of 15.08 billion yuan, a domestic entity credit rating of AAA, and an international credit rating of BBB. It has 23 wholly-owned enterprises, 4 holding companies, and 20 share-holding companies. Its main business covers four major sectors: industrial platform, innovation platform, open platform and capital platform.   As a state-owned capital operating platform company in Hefei, Hefei Industrial Investment Group adheres to the development concept of "integration of industry and finance", using its subsidiaries Hefei Industrial Investment Capital Management Co., Ltd. and Hefei Innovation Technology Venture Capital Co., Ltd. as the main carriers to operate and manage Hefei Innovation Invest in guiding funds, Hefei Angel Investment Fund, Hefei Science and Technology Innovation Fund, etc., to build an equity investment fund system covering the entire enterprise cycle.   As of the end of November 2020, the total scale of the "Industry and Investment Department" fund has exceeded 66 billion yuan, supporting more than 300 enterprises in total, achieving 29 enterprises successfully landing on the capital market, and providing strong support for industrial development. About Hefei Investment Promotion Fund   Hefei Investment Promotion Fund is one of the self-managed funds under the Industrial Investment Group, with a total scale of 5 billion yuan. With the original intention of supporting the development of the city’s emerging industries, the Municipal Investment Promotion Fund is positioned to promote the implementation of high-quality key industry projects, accelerate industrial agglomeration, promote industrial upgrading, give full play to the guiding role of the fund in attracting investment and industry leadership, and focus on supporting a group of Leading technology companies in the industry, with technological advantages, stable teams, and mature markets come to Hefei to settle down. Hefei Angel Investment Fund As an industrial investment fund, the fund was allocated by the Hefei city government. It was established in 2014 and managed by Hefei Innovation Technology Venture Capital Co., Ltd. under the Industrial Investment Group. Innovation investment actively plays a leading and exemplary role, makes front-end investment, and actively supports Hefei startups The development of technology-based enterprises in the mid and early stages realized the transformation of government funds from appropriation to investment and from capital to fund. As of the end of November 2020, Hefei Angel Fund has a total scale of 624 million yuan, a total of 140 projects have been approved, with a total approved amount of 743 million yuan, and a total of 120 investment projects have been implemented with an investment amount of 6012.5 million yuan. Initiated the establishment of 9 county and district sub-funds, with a total size of 472.1 million yuan. An angel fund group that "covers the whole city, deeply cultivates counties and districts, and goes out of Hefei" has been established, which is the largest direct investment government fund in Anhui Province with the largest amount of investment and the largest amount.   About Huaying Investment   Huaying Investment was established in April 2016. It is a venture capital institution dedicated to the fields of medical health and technological innovation. Huaying's investment management team has rich experience in hard technology, Internet and health industries, and has always adhered to the strategy of "think like an entrepreneur" to provide entrepreneurs with friendly services in industries, products and technologies within their capabilities.   Huaying Investment currently operates and manages two funds with a scale of nearly 700 million yuan under management. The investment directions include digital and technological medical, sports health and IoT product technologies, with special emphasis on technological and medical innovation breakthroughs. As of the third quarter of 2020, more than 40 mid- to early-stage venture projects have been invested.