Home / Health / China Hospital Sells Medical Data Legally
China Hospital Sells Medical Data Legally
27 May
Summary
- Beijing hospital completed first compliant sale of patient data.
- Dataset includes millions of entries and thousands of images.
- Pharmaceutical firms purchased data for drug research and AI training.
In a pioneering move for China's digital health sector, Beijing Tongren Hospital has successfully executed the nation's first legally compliant sale of a substantial ophthalmic patient dataset to commercial pharmaceutical firms. This marks a significant step in monetizing medical data within regulatory frameworks.
The hospital's database, built over a decade, encompasses data from 100,000 individuals and features 30 million entries, including extensive fundus and OCT images. It covers prevalent eye conditions such as myopia, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy, sourced from real-world clinical scenarios.
Pharmaceutical companies, including Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals and Bayer, have acquired segments of this data. They aim to use it for rigorous evaluation of new treatments, such as eye drops for dry eye syndrome, and to develop AI models for disease analysis.
This initiative, supported by compliance platforms, ensures all personal information is anonymized. Hospital president Yuan Jin stated this proves the feasibility of market-oriented allocation of medical data elements, turning records into valuable industry assets.
