Domestic ventilator giant Beijing Yian acquires German ventilator manufacturer Heyer Medical with a century-old history

PART 01

Beijing Aeon Medical acquires German company HEYER Medical

Beijing-based Aeonmed has acquired German medical device manufacturer Heyer Medical AG. The transaction is part of Heyer Medical’s restructuring, which was successfully completed at the end of March. According to German media reports, Heyer Medical filed for bankruptcy in October 2018.

Founded in 2001, Beijing Aeon Medical Group is a manufacturer of anesthesia and respiratory medical equipment and a supplier of operating room equipment and solutions. In addition to its German subsidiary in Düsseldorf, the medical group also has branches in the United States, India, Indonesia and Mexico, and its products are exported to more than 130 countries and regions around the world.

HEYER Medical, headquartered in Bad Ems, Rhineland-Palatinate, is a leading medical device manufacturer with more than 130 years of experience in the development and manufacture of medical devices. The company specializes in the manufacture of anesthesia machines and medical ventilators, with offices in China, Malaysia, India, Saudi Arabia and the United States, and its products are sold in 80 countries around the world.

PS: If you need Beijing Yian ventilator, please contact: WeChat 7281670

PART 02

Alleviating the shortage of ventilators is a top priority

On March 22, the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Saarland immediately responded to France's call for help and accepted a group of French COVID-19 patients. On March 26, the German Foreign Minister announced that a further group of critically ill COVID-19 patients from Italy would be accepted, and a medical team and scarce ventilators would be sent to them. The cross-border cooperation in treating patients within the EU is supported by Germany's sufficient reserves of ventilators, and the large number of ventilators put into use has also reduced Germany's mortality rate.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn said that Germany currently has 25,000 ventilators and more than 28,000 intensive care beds, and beds equipped with ventilators account for nearly 90% of the total intensive care beds, but this is obviously not enough. In February, the federal government ordered 10,000 ventilators from medical equipment manufacturer Dragerwerk. Drager has now doubled its production capacity and may complete the production task by the end of this year. In addition, the federal government has ordered 6,500 ventilators from Lwenstein Medical, a medical technology manufacturer based in Bad Ems.

Germany is expected to have a total of 44,500 ventilators by the end of the year. In comparison, the UK currently has only 5,000 adult ventilators and 900 pediatric ventilators, and France has only more than 5,000 intensive care beds equipped with ventilators.

Governments are currently urging domestic ventilator manufacturers to increase production to the maximum extent to alleviate the current shortage of medical equipment. Hamilton, the world's largest ventilator manufacturer, announced that it would transfer personnel from other departments of the company to support the production department and increase production capacity from 15,000 units/year to 21,000 units/year. Sweden's Getinge also plans to increase the company's production capacity by 60% to 16,000 units per year. Dräger and Beijing Yian have also taken action. But in fact, even if all the leading ventilator companies double their production capacity, it will take at least a year to plug the gap in ventilators around the world.

This has forced the government to find another way and encourage other companies to switch to the production of ventilators. The British government asked vacuum cleaner manufacturer Dyson to develop a plan to produce 10,000 ventilators within 10 days. Siare Engineering, Italy's only ventilator manufacturer, has sought help from Ferrari, Fiat and Lamborghini, hoping to use the global channels of the vehicle manufacturers to purchase oxygen tubes and other parts. The US President said that Ford, General Motors and Tesla have obtained permission to produce ventilators. Germany's Volkswagen Group also said that it will use 3D printing technology to manufacture hoses, oxygen tubes and other parts to support ventilator manufacturers. A spokesperson said that as long as there are design drawings, production can start immediately.

However, is it really that simple for car manufacturers to switch to the production of ventilators? In this regard, Dräger's senior management clearly expressed their opposition in an interview with the media: "We have talked to Daimler and they hope to help us. But switching to the production of ventilators is not that simple, and we don't make cars." He believes that car manufacturers cannot understand the complexity of the problem.

A ventilator is an electrically powered or electromagnetically driven machine controlled by a microprocessor that assists breathing. The heart of the machine is electronics, sensors, complex software, monitors and switches. In fact, suppliers of electronic manufacturing services (EMS) are better suited to switch to ventilator production.

Foxconn, a well-known Apple product manufacturer, has been producing ventilators for other companies at its factory in Pardubice, Czech Republic, for a year. Medtronic, a medical technology giant, has also received support from EMS companies in ventilator production. Currently, there are three well-known EMS companies in Europe that have been producing ventilators for their customers for a long time, and their production capacity is recognized.

Of course, it is impossible to simply order every EMS company to produce medical devices. They must first meet the minimum requirements, that is, to be certified in accordance with ISO 13485. ISO13485 is an ISO standard that represents the requirements of a comprehensive quality management system for the design and manufacture of medical devices. Currently, 160 EMS companies have obtained the necessary approvals and can start production at any time. They have better equipment than car manufacturers. I believe that with the efforts of all parties, the shortage of ventilators will be alleviated.

PART 03

Chinese companies make early arrangements

The current epidemic crisis has exposed the problem of insufficient ventilator reserves in most governments of the world. However, a Chinese company started to make early preparations three years ago. That company is Aerospace Changfeng, a high-tech listed company based on China's high-end aerospace technology and application achievements and with aerospace military enterprises as its background.

In 2017, the Medical Device Branch of Beijing Aerospace Changfeng Co., Ltd. launched the introduction and cooperation project of medical device product lines:

By introducing three ventilator production lines from Germany's SALVIA, namely elisa, Sonata, and NI60, the three therapeutic ventilators were filled through digestion and reabsorption; by obtaining the exclusive agency rights of Germany's TNI softflow series products, the company opened up the market for Aerospace Changfeng in the field of general respiratory therapy and achieved full coverage of respiratory therapy products in the medical and household markets; by introducing the digital integration products of Germany's S-CAPE company, the company integrated its mature and advanced design and application concepts with Aerospace Changfeng's deep understanding of the operating room and intensive care unit business, and launched digital integration core products and solutions with international quality, in line with domestic user habits, and capable of forming a complete product system. The group believes that with the encouragement of relevant policies and the increased investment in research and development by domestic enterprises, the share of domestic equipment is gradually in an upward stage. The development trend of the ventilator market has benefited from the reform of the national medical system, and the market prospects are favorable, especially the demand for high-quality and multifunctional medical devices is more urgent, which has driven the growth of demand in the ventilator market and even the entire medical device market.

The market potential of ventilators in my country is more than 20,000 units per year. National policies and market demand are eager for domestic products with stable performance and low prices to replace imported products. As long as we seize the opportunity, develop and produce excellent products, increase marketing efforts, and lay out channel construction, it is expected to take 2% of the market share in three years.

In just three years, ventilator products have become very popular during the epidemic. Thanks to the support policies previously implemented and the active response of many domestic companies, China has been able to ensure the supply of ventilators during the epidemic and greatly reduce the mortality rate. Now many European countries have sent huge orders to Chinese companies, hoping to order ventilators from China. We are also doing our best to provide help to the world, hoping to defeat the epidemic together as soon as possible.

Source: European Mergers and Investments