Bridging the "Last Mile" of Medical Innovation: ICMIS 2025 Successfully Concludes with Capital and Industry Collaborating to Accelerate Commercialization
HONG KONG, Dec. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In the current global MedTech landscape, technological breakthroughs are only the starting point. The real measure of scientific research is whether laboratory discoveries can be translated into safe, effective, and widely used clinical products. Yet the development of medical technology is often complex and challenging. In an increasingly rational market environment, constructing sustainable business models and aligning long-term capital with cutting-edge technologies have become critical priorities for innovation-driven enterprises.
Within this context, the 2nd International Cerebro-cardiovascular Medical Innovation Summit (ICMIS 2025), organised by the InnoHK Hong Kong Centre for Cerebro-cardiovascular Health Engineering (COCHE), has successfully concluded on December 9 at the Hong Kong Science Park. Over the two days, the summit attracted over 240 registers, including 22 global speakers from Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Following the first day that focused on advances in AI and imaging technologies in cerebro-cardiovascular health, the second day emphasized on the commercialization strategies, investment considerations, and ecosystem development.
The summit brought together leaders in translational medicine from world-renowned universities, alongside decision-makers from AstraZeneca, Shanghai Innovation Bank, and leading venture capital firms. Moving beyond a purely academic discussion, speakers shared insights on intellectual property strategy, venture capital perspectives, and the construction of industrial ecosystems. Through a high-level medical innovation competition, the summit built a practical pathway to assess both the scientific achievements and business models professionally to expedite the translation of MedTech to both local and international markets.
From Scientists to Entrepreneurs: Reshaping the Business Logic of Medical Innovation
In the fourth main forum session "From Scientists to Entrepreneurs: Reshaping the Business Logic of Medical Innovation," a distinguished panel explored how cutting‑edge scientific ideas can be transformed into scalable healthcare businesses. The discussion spanned the entire spectrum from imaging breakthroughs to financing and ecosystem development. Prof. Susumu MORI, Founder of Corporate‑M and Professor in the Department of Radiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Ms. Jennifer CHE, President and Managing Director of Eagle IP, and Prof. Yi ZHANG, Research Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Zhejiang University, anchored the conversation around medical imaging innovation, intellectual property strategy, and clinical translation. Expanding the dialogue, Ms. Scarlett CHEN, Managing Partner at Verge HealthTech Fund, Ms. Dandan YE, Executive Director and Head of Healthcare and Syndication at Shanghai Innovation Bank, and Dr. Chandler CHEN, Executive Director of International Business Development and Head of Ecosystem Alliance at AstraZeneca, delved into venture capital funds, innovating financing models for MedTech startups, and the role of global ecosystem partnerships in advancing commercialization. Collectively, the speakers illuminated the journey from laboratory discovery to market adoption, emphasizing that sustainable medical innovation requires strategic IP protection, patient centric marketing, long-term capital management, and cross‑border collaboration among investors, industry, and academia.
Synergy of Capital and Ecosystem: Building a Full-Chain Support System
Medical technology development stands apart from many traditional sectors due to its reliance on long-term capital investment, and access to clinical, regulatory, and industrial resources. To explore these strategic requirements, the roundtable discussion "Investment Tips for Medical Innovation: Evaluating Deep Tech, Clinical Impact, and Ecosystem Synergies in High-Stakes Healthcare Investment" brought together experts from venture capital, banking, and pharmaceutical companies for a focused, high-level dialogue.
Participants emphasized the importance of scalability as a key factor in investment decisions. AI and digital health solutions, with their "build once, deploy repeatedly" nature, are particularly well suited to deliver the returns that investors seek while also enhancing access to healthcare. The chair highlighted Hong Kong's strategic position as a bridge between East and West, advocating for a closer integration of its robust basic research capabilities with the engineering and industrialization strengths of the Mainland China and the broader Asia-Pacific region. The conversation also underscored the necessity of an early mindset shift for successful translation from academic research to industrial application. Research teams are encouraged to consider commercialization and intellectual property considerations from the outset of R&D, paving a smoother path from the laboratory to clinical practice.
Putting Tech to the Test: Innovation Project Roadshow
The discussion of business logic and capital ecosystems ultimately requires validated through tangible innovative projects. Serving as a vital bridge between academia and industry, this "Medical Innovation Competition" brought together eight teams from HK Tech 300, HKSTP and COCHE. Each team showcased the translational potential of their research to a distinguished panel of nearly twenty leading scholars, investors, and industry experts.
To maximize real-world impact, the competition employed a totally new dual‑panel structure instead of a single jury. An Expert Review Panel, consisting of clinicians and scientists evaluated each finalist's scientific rigor, clinical value, and regulatory feasibility. Meanwhile, an Investment Judging Panel, composed of seasoned investors and industry leaders, focused on business models, go-to-market strategies, and collaboration opportunities. Each team delivered a concise pitch, followed by in‑depth questioning from the Expert Review Panel and the Investment Judging Panel.
This format fostered a two‑way learning mechanism. Academic experts gained clearer insight into commercial viability and business risks, while investors received direct explanations of technological barriers, innovation depth, and clinical challenges. Evaluating projects from both scientific and financial perspectives led to more comprehensive assessments, and teams received targeted guidance on development priorities, regulatory planning, and partnership pathways. As a result, the dual‑panel mechanism was highly praised by both panel members and contestants, and was recognized as an effective model for accelerating the journey from laboratory innovation to real‑world implementation.
ICMIS 2025 Concludes Successfully
With the announcement of the competition awards, the two-day ICMIS 2025 concluded on a high note. Ir. Prof. Kannie W.Y. CHAN, Director of the Hong Kong Centre for Cerebro-cardiovascular Health Engineering (COCHE); Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Electrical Engineering at the City University of Hong Kong; and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Radiology and Radiological Science at Johns Hopkins University, delivered the closing remark. She summarizing the summit's key outcomes and future vision, highlighting the event's success in exploring the frontiers of AI-enabled health technology and digital health platforms, and examining the pivotal role of medical imaging in managing cerebral-cardiovascular health. The summit provided a platform to discuss strategies for translating and commercializing biomedical innovations, demonstrating how challenges in the field can be transformed into opportunities that benefit both local and global communities. She also expressed appreciation to the sponsors, including United Imaging, and to the panels for their support of COCHE's first Medical Innovation Competition. Looking ahead, she expressed her anticipation for the next ICMIS.
ICMIS 2025 has not only bolstered Hong Kong's international academic standing in cerebro-cardiovascular health engineering but also added momentum to the convergence and translation of global medical innovation resources through substantive collaboration agreements and project matchmaking. Moving forward, COCHE will continue to build an international platform that accelerates the translation of frontier technologies from the laboratory to the clinic, benefiting patients with cerebro-cardiovascular diseases worldwide.
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