The country issued a document to promote the application of high-end medical equipment, which may become the key to breaking through the monopoly of domestic radiotherapy brands

On December 13, 2024, the Equipment Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Planning, Development and Information Technology Department of the National Health Commission announced the publicity of the 2024 high-end medical equipment promotion and application project.

This high-end medical equipment promotion and application project covers five directions: diagnosis and testing, treatment, monitoring and life support, elderly care and rehabilitation, and artificial intelligence assisted diagnosis and treatment, with a total of 51 projects selected. Among them, in the real-time image-guided linear accelerator sector, projects from 5 domestic brands including United Imaging, Neusoft, and Xinhua were selected, and nearly 30 top hospitals across the country participated in the corresponding projects.

01
Continuous breakthroughs in core technologies

Domestic “IGRT” linear accelerators are landing one after another

As one of the core technologies in the field of precision radiotherapy, IGRT has always been controlled by foreign brands such as Elekta and Varian, making it difficult for domestic medical linear accelerators to compete with foreign brands in the market.
But in recent years, with the continuous breakthroughs in core technologies, multi leaf gratings (MLC), planning systems (TPS), intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), and even image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) have gradually been applied to domestic accelerators, and product recognition is also constantly increasing. At present, there are only over 30 devices with image-guided radiotherapy function and approved NMPA. Among them, Elekta and Varian hold nearly half of the registration certificates. However, domestic brands such as United Imaging, Neusoft, and Accuray have made key technological breakthroughs, and the number of certificates is gradually increasing.

Top 5 licensed medical linear accelerators equipped with IGRT technology under different brands by 2024

Data source: Joinchain. The market data statistics for 2024 are all from January to November, the same applies below

02
The market monopoly pattern is gradually being broken
Domestic brands have emerged as a rising force

From the perspective of market share changes, according to Joinchain’s calculations, the market share of domestic brands in 2021 was less than 8%. However, in the following years, the long-standing monopoly of foreign brands in the market was gradually broken, and the market share of domestic linear accelerators continued to increase. By 2024, the market share of domestic brands has approached 30%.
From the perspective of market competition among various brands, Electa and Varian still have significant advantages in the domestic medical linear accelerator market, with a combined market share of over 55%. However, the market recognition of products under the domestic brand United Imaging Medical has increased, and its market share has risen to 19.72%, an increase of nearly 10% compared to the same period last year.
From the perspective of model market competition, various models of medical linear accelerators under Electa and Varian still have significant market competitiveness, with only the uRT linac 506c under United Imaging entering the top five in terms of market share.
From the perspective of model market competition, various models of medical linear accelerators under Electa and Varian still have significant market competitiveness, with only the uRT linac 506c under United Imaging entering the top five in terms of market share.

China is encouraging China end uses for more domestic products in latest years. Thus, more and more overseas manufacturers are planning localization in China. BradyKnows localization team has extensive experiences in facility establishment, audit, supplier evaluation, manufacturing, registration, and marketing in China. Pls feel free to let us know any questions on China entry via info@bradyknowsmedical.com
Source：Joinchain
Translated & edited： Bradyknown