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Posted: March 29, 2019 | News, Press
AMSINO - Contributing to China’s Healthcare Industry Upgrading
Interview with Dr. Richard Y. Lee, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Amsino Medical Group
Dr. Richard Y. Lee, Founder, Chairman and CEO Amsino Medical Group, told the journalist that AMSINO was founded in 1993 and headquartered in California as a multinational medical device company that integrates R&D, manufacturing and global sales and marketing. It has 2000 employees working in 6 business divisions and 5 factories. Amsino Medical Group is aimed to improve healthcare by enhancing the safety and efficacy of patient care. It has obtained over 100 patents of internationally leading medical technologies. AMSINO medical products mainly cover: medication delivery systems, enteral nutrition feeding systems, RECEPTAL and iRECEPTAL waste fluid management systems, urological care, respiratory therapy systems, and surgical and nursing solutions. AMSINO medical products are distributed in more than 80 countries around the world besides the US. He said, "This year marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of AMSINO. Our company has undergone great changes in R&D, manufacturing and globalization. We have six business divisions, which are North America Business Division, Latin America Business Division, Europe, Middle East and Africa Business Division, Asia Pacific Business Division, China Business Division, and Contract Manufacturing Business Division. Among them, the US supports sales in North America and Latin America, Amsterdam of Netherlands supports sales in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Shanghai of China supports sales in Asia Pacific, including Greater China Region. We attach great importance to the Chinese market which is a strategic market with unlimited business opportunities and great potential for growth. At present, our business in China accounts for about 15% of the total sales volume of the company."
Amsino's global distribution network has been greatly enhanced through various forms of integration, mergers and acquisitions, and reorganization. Richard said, "As for sales channels, we have established strong networks and channels in major countries and regions around the world. It is also related to our acquisition in 2014. We acquired the RECEPTAL hospital waste fluid management systems from Hospira, Inc., including the global sales channels that were developed and established by Abbott Laboratory more than 20 years ago. Accordingly, it has strengthened our global coverage and the quality of our distributors. As for production, we have built highly efficient and vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities over the past 25 years. In the 1990s, we chose China for our first production base. Now we have three factories in China, and we are building a new plant in Vietnam. Last year, we successfully acquired Smith Medical’s pharmaceutical plant in Chicago. The plant is an FDA registered pharmaceutical manufacturer of essential inhalation therapy, wound care and other USP grade saline/water based products for the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. We will continue to invest in the US this year to expand the production scale and add new product lines.
As a brand operator, the entrepreneur must have both a long-term brand strategy and an integrated communication strategy for the moment in order to make the enterprise upgrade under the market rules where the big gets bigger. According to Richard, AMSINO is aimed to become a brand-name company since its founding in the US. Like many companies, it is difficult to resist the temptation of contract manufacturing in the journey of the company's growth. AMSINO has both. He said, "The foundation of the brand is still the core technologies which must be different from those of other brands and have distinctive characteristics. Patents are necessary to avoid patent conflicts on the one hand and protect our own technologies on the other hand. We have developed more than 100 patents with distinct features that benefit patients and healthcare workers, and it is these patents that differentiate AMSINO products from competition. Innovation and sales are two wheels that drive the rapid development of enterprises. Richard said, "As for research and development, we are constantly developing new technologies, especially in the field of infection control, which is key focus for us and closely related to our mission to improve the safety and effectiveness of patient care. Today, patient care is not safe and effective enough in the US or elsewhere. There are many clinical problems. Hospital acquired infection (HAI), for example. In fact, many patients get new diseases when going to the hospital. Hospital acquired infection has a lot to do with hospital environments, hospital infrastructure, and the use of medical equipment and products. Our RECEPTAL and iRECEPTAL closed systems provide a complete solution to hospital's waste fluid and smoke problems from vacuum suction, evacuation, collection to disposal, effectively reduce infection level from the infection sources. Our R&D is realized in several ways: first, internal R&D, which rely on our own R&D team. Now we have more than 100 patents, and the number will exceed 130 in 2019; most of them are internally developed; second, acquisition, which is quick and effective; third, cooperation with R&D companies and organizations, including universities and research institutions. Most of these R&D companies and institutions focus on research and development, patents development, and regulatory compliance and product registrations, but have no production capacity or commercialization capability, while we have production and commercialization capabilities. Cooperation with these R&D companies or R&D institutions in the US, Canada, and Europe will fuel our growth. We also have strong sales channels - a sales network covering more than 80 countries, so that we can turn patents into products qualified for clinical applications, and bring them into the global market through our commercial channels. We will continue to grow in our branded business globally and will continue to invest in R&D to drive the growth of our branded business. Although we have built a healthy contract manufacturing customer base, we never gave up brand building. Now we have six product lines of our own, with 60% of the products self-owned brands, and 40% of the products for OEM. I consider China a strategic market for us, and we have the technologies to equip and upgrade Chinese hospitals to a higher level of compliance with FDA, health and environmental regulations and effectively reduce infections. We are very committed to contributing to China's healthcare industry's upgrade.
Richard graduated from Peking University in 1985 with a Bachelor degree in Economics. In 1992, he received his Ph.D. degree in Economics under the guidance of Dr. Vernon Smith, 2002 Nobel Laurate in Economics. He founded Amsino International, Inc. in California in 1993, and has been the Chairman & CEO of Amsino Medical Group since then. He is also a member of the Committee of 100, the Honorary Chairman and former President of the Chinese CEO Organization, Founder and Director of the Beijing Association USA, Advisor and former Chairman of Peking University Alumni Association of Southern California, Director of the International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics (IFREE). He is very committed to community development and charity, and has been supporting public welfare activities for many years. He said, "An enterprise should be responsible for its staff, for the community, and for the government, just like a human, since a human and an enterprise cannot survive alone. I would like to talk more about the social responsibilities. On January 20, 2019, I attended a charity activity called "smile for mothers", which is to seek help for patients suffering from cleft lip. I think it is our obligation to help those helpless people, and it is a social responsibility for an enterprise." It is reported that on January 1, 2008, Richard, as a main sponsor, led and participated in the Pasadena Rose Parade themed with Beijing Olympic Games. In 2008, Richard, the then president of Chinese CEO Organization, led and organized donations for the Wenchuan earthquake in China, for which he was given credit by the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles.
Richard stressed that the biggest challenge for mergers and acquisitions that many enterprises encountered with is the integration process post acquisition. "We once acquired companies where there is no need of personnel integration since we only bought the assets, which is relatively simple. Recently, we have dealt with several acquisitions involving the integration of people with different cultural backgrounds, different languages, and different enterprise cultures. It is indeed difficult. For example, we acquired a Chicago company which is typical of the US, featured by American culture, a long history, a professional team, and European-style business management. However, this time the integration has been very smooth. With a company vision acceptable to everyone, and based on common values, the integration was basically to retain the original management team, keep the management system and personnel system of the company consistent, and the salary and welfare as comparable as possible so that no one was worse off, but saw the hope for growth and a better future."
The 25th anniversary celebration and gala dinner of Amsino Medical Group was held in the function hall of Jin Jiang Hotel on January 12, 2019. Distinguished guest from around the world and AMSINO employee representatives participated in the grand ceremony. Richard finally told the journalist, "The global economy is faced with challenges, but not the medical industry. Since everyone is pursuing a better and healthier life, the healthcare industry is growing by double digits on a yearly basis in many countries, and we are riding the waves in such a general environment. In the next five years, we will continue to improve, strive to double our business volume, achieve sustainable development, and build AMSINO into an excellent global medical device company."
"I CAN I CARE" is the core value of AMSINO. Today, AMSINO has laid a solid foundation and built a global platform through 25 years of hard work. We sincerely wish AMSINO a brilliant future!