Ping An Signs Agreement with Shionogi to Launch Joint Ventures

Ping An Insurance has announced that it has signed agreements with Shionogi, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shionogi & Co., to launch joint ventures in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

The subsidiaries, namely Ping An-Shionogi Co. and Ping An-Shionogi (Hong Kong), will reportedly enhance the level of health and medical care service in China, in line with Ping An's healthcare ecosystem strategy, the firm said in a press release.

Ping An-Shionogi Co. is reportedly registered in Shanghai, with a total investment of RMB2.94 billion. Ping An Life Insurance Company of China intends to invest RMB1.44 billion, with equity accounting for 49%; Shionogi (Hong Kong) intends to invest RMB1.5 billion, with equity accounting for 51%. The joint venture agreement will be reported to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC).

Ping An-Shionogi (Hong Kong) is registered in Hong Kong, with a total investment of HKD360 million. Tutum Japan Healthcare, an indirect subsidiary of Ping An intends to invest HKD176 million, with equity accounting for 49%; Shionogi (Hong Kong) intends to invest HKD184 million, with equity accounting for 51%. Both transactions will be coordinated by China Ping An Insurance Overseas (Holdings) Limited.

Build a data-driven drug discovery/development platform

The joint ventures will become development centres for drugs that Shionogi is developing globally. With a focus on infectious disease and central nervous system (CNS) disorders, Shionogi has amassed a wealth of knowledge about disease and strong drug-discovery capabilities. Combining these competencies with Ping An's big data and artificial intelligence (AI) analytical technology, the joint ventures will establish a research and development platform to efficiently create high-value-added, innovative medicines and healthcare services and deliver customized solutions for customers.

Build a manufacturing and quality control system using AI technology

To enhance pharmaceutical manufacturing and quality control, Shionogi will fuse its manufacturing and quality control technology and knowhow with Ping An's AI technology to create a new manufacturing and quality control system, read the press release. The joint ventures will use AI to monitor the manufacturing and analysis in real time, and to deploy an innovative pharmaceutical manufacturing and quality control system that offers high quality and low costs.

Build a sales and distribution platform utilizing online-to-offline marketing to improve customer satisfaction

The joint ventures will be able to supply new, generic and over-the-counter drugs to customers in China via Ping An Health Cloud, an affiliate of the Group. Ping An Good Doctor is today the largest mobile medical application in China in terms of user scale, with 315.2 million registered users, 729,000 average daily consultations, and a professional network of more than 3,000 hospitals and 94,000 pharmacies by the end of 2019. It leverages Ping An Health Cloud Company Limited's in-house full-time medical team and its proprietary AI-based medical system to cover end-to-end services including 24/7 online consultation, prescription, referral, appointment, second medical opinion and drug delivery.

John Keller, Ph.D., Senior Executive Officer, Senior Vice President, Global Business Division, Shionogi, said: “We are excited to have completed the joint venture agreement and to now be prepared to make a full-scale start. Ping An Group has a world-leading platform and AI technology in the healthcare field, in addition to their strength in the insurance & financial field. By fusing Ping An's strengths with Shionogi's strengths as a drug discovery-oriented pharmaceutical company in this joint venture, we will work together to provide total healthcare solutions for the benefit of patients, families, healthcare professionals and society as early as possible. We believe this alliance represents a very significant step toward our goal of creating new platforms to shape the future of healthcare.”

As a world-leading technology-powered retail financial services group, Ping An is guided by its strategies of "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" to provide customers and internet users with innovative and simple products and services using technology, focusing on "pan financial assets" and "pan health care". Since the global outbreak of Covid-19 earlier this year, Ping An has taken on the challenge of meeting changing customer needs. The establishment of the joint ventures will leverage both parties' strengths and advantages to raise the level of health and medical care service in China, empower the healthcare industry with advanced technology, and offer customers more diversified health care services.