ROKIT Healthcare Enters U.S. Market with Skin Regeneration Treatment Platform … “Penetrating the World’s Largest Market”
ROKIT Healthcare Partners with U.S. Biohealthcare Company to Enter the World’s Largest Regenerative Medicine Market.
Bio-printing and digital regenerative medicine company ROKIT Healthcare announced on the 20th that it has signed an exclusive sales agreement with Tides Medical, a U.S. biohealthcare specialist company. Tides Medical develops and sells wound care medical devices across the United States.
ROKIT Healthcare has taken its first step into the world’s largest regenerative medicine market, the U.S., with this sales contract, leveraging its self-developed and commercialized AI-based personalized bio-printing organ regeneration platform. This technology is used to treat chronic wounds, including diabetic foot ulcers. A company representative stated, “Currently, one patient worldwide undergoes a foot amputation due to diabetic foot every 20 seconds. This skin regeneration platform offers a higher treatment rate and lower medical costs compared to existing treatments.” They added, “Given the U.S. insurance market, the platform has significant potential to be available to most diabetes patients.”
The United States ranks fourth globally with over 37 million diabetes patients. As of 2017, there were more than 3.5 million diabetic foot patients, and over 30% of the approximately 300 trillion KRW ($250 billion USD) diabetes treatment market in the U.S. is spent on diabetic foot treatment. With the number of diabetes patients increasing worldwide, including in the U.S., the cost of a single amputation due to diabetic foot exceeds 130 million KRW ($110,000 USD), making it a major chronic disease that requires significant medical expenses.
According to a recent announcement by the U.S. government, the average annual treatment cost per patient with diabetic foot is $31,844 for private insurance patients and $22,147 for national insurance patients. This is three times the annual treatment cost for general diabetes patients. While cell and tissue-derived wound healing agents for diabetic foot treatment are available in the U.S. market, their limitations in treatment rates and usage methods highlight the need for new technologies, such as skin regeneration, which can provide more effective and safer chronic wound treatments tailored to individual patients.
From a healthcare industry perspective, the U.S. accounts for over 40% of the global biopharmaceutical and medical device market, showing high growth potential due to the aging population and increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. According to the OECD, as of 2021, the U.S. had the highest healthcare expenditure as a percentage of GDP at 17.2%. Last year, the Biden administration issued Executive Order 14081 on Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation to promote a sustainable and secure American bioeconomy, prioritizing technologies that utilize 3D bio-printing to reconstruct living tissues for patient applications.
In terms of scientific and technological development in the medical industry, the U.S. is also working to share diabetic foot treatment technologies globally and prevent amputations through collaborations with researchers and medical professionals. The International Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) and the International Diabetic Foot Conference (DFCon) are held annually, bringing together podiatric surgeons, plastic surgeons, and wound care specialists to share the latest treatment developments and technologies for diabetic foot.
In 2021, ROKIT Healthcare participated in the International Diabetic Foot Conference, showcasing its skin regeneration treatment platform, which uses 3D bio-printing and AI convergence technology to create customized patches from a patient’s adipose-derived extracellular matrix for wound application. The company presented its clinical results for diabetic foot treatment conducted in the U.S. and other regions, winning recognition. Last year, ROKIT Healthcare introduced new regenerative medicine technology products at the International Symposium on Advanced Wound Care, attracting global attention to its achievements as a South Korean company.
Previously, ROKIT Healthcare has conducted clinical trials targeting diabetic foot and osteoarthritis patients in South Korea, the U.S., the Middle East, South America, India, and Turkey, achieving regenerative treatment results with personalized treatment technologies and publishing over five international papers. The company has signed exclusive sales agreements with 15 medical device companies and pharmaceutical firms across 29 countries for its skin treatment platform and successfully launched the platform in seven countries to date. Additionally, ROKIT Healthcare is laying the foundation for the clinical and commercial development of cartilage regeneration and kidney regeneration treatment platforms to provide new treatment alternatives for patients with osteoarthritis and chronic kidney disease.
A company representative stated, “The contract with Tides Medical in the U.S. will create business synergies by combining our platform and brand, which have led advanced medical paradigms, with Tides Medical’s commercialization success strategies and insurance listing experience. Introducing our skin regeneration treatment platform in a leading medical country and developing the optimal treatment method also holds significant meaning.”
