Alibaba Health Information Technology, the health division of Alibaba Group Holding, has announced measures to increase its investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and the launch of a range of new services, revealed in May 2018 the South China Morning Post.
The company will focus on bringing AI to intelligent medicine (i.e. the use of data, biotechnology, environmental information, and analysis to guide medical decisions), online medical services, and personal health management.
Medical AI: growing profitability will enable to increase investment
Alibaba Health reported on May 16, 2018 a 414.2% increase in revenue to 2.4 billion yuan (€322m; US$378), up from 475.1 million yuan (€63.8m; US$74.8m) a year earlier.
Significant rise in healthcare product sales, e-commerce activity in full swing
Shen Difan, the chief executive at Alibaba Health, attributes the improved financial results to a significant rise in health care product sales and the firm’s e-commerce business, which includes the provision of outsourced and value-added services for the pharmaceutical categories on parent Alibaba’s Tmall retail platform.
This growing profitability « will enable the group to increase investment in artificial intelligence-related medical fields, as well as the launch and deployment of cutting-edge and innovative products, including intelligent medicine, internet-based medical services and personal health management, » he said.
Medical IA: one of the priorities of China
That broader commitment to AI further intensifies the development of this sector in China, which has made the technology part of national strategies July 2017.
Chinese premier Li Keqiang said earlier this year that the Chinese government will step up research, development and application of AI, and promote the Internet Plus model, which aims to integrate internet into traditional offline industries including medical care and elderly care.
Alibaba Health has launched its 1st AI medical lab with three hospitals
Alibaba Health partnered in 2017 with three major hospitals in mainland China to launch its first artificial intelligence medical laboratory. This project includes setting up a public platform to support smart diagnostics and assist clinical decisions.
Diabetes, hypertension: AI could improve treatment outcomes by 40%
China has experienced explosive growth of chronic diseases in recent years, with about 110 million people living with diabetes, and 330 million people suffering from hypertension.
According to consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, the AI could improve the outcomes of medical treatment by 30 to 40%, and reduce costs by as much as 50%.
Alibaba’s online services are attracting more and more users
My Health service has 28 million active users
As of March 31, 2018, nearly 23,000 medical practitioners, pharmacists and nutritionists had signed up with Alibaba Health to provide online health consultation services, providing an average of more than 50,000 consultation sessions daily. There were 28 million active users on the company’s My Health service through parent Alibaba’s Taobao mobile app.
Vaccination platform: 200 million people received vaccination education
Alibaba Health’s vaccination platform covered more than 1,000 service points across more than 100 cities: about 200 million people received vaccination education.
More than 7,500 companies have joined Alibaba’s Ma Shang Fang Xin platform
As of March 31, more than 7,500 companies from the drug, food and nutritional supplement industries had signed with Alibaba Health to join its Ma Shang Fang Xin platform, which tracks the full life cycle of their products and help fulfil their regulatory compliance obligations.
The number of pharmaceutical manufacturers which had joined Alibaba’s service reached 2,865, which made up more than 80% of the total number of such firms in China.