Dong-A ST is accelerating the overseas expansion of its digital healthcare business by expanding the supply of its wearable patient monitoring platform HiCardi to six countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Dong-A ST said Sept. 7 that it signed a supply agreement for HiCardi with Schiller Asia Pacific (Schiller AP), the Asia-Pacific subsidiary of global medical device company Schiller.
Under the agreement, Dong-A ST will supply HiCardi+ and HiCardi+ H100 to Schiller AP.
Schiller AP will handle the distribution and sale of HiCardi in six Asia-Pacific countries: Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Australia and Singapore.
Schiller AP is the Asia-Pacific subsidiary of Schiller AG, a global medical device company founded in Switzerland in 1974. Schiller AG supplies medical devices and related solutions, including electrocardiography (ECG) equipment, defibrillators and patient monitoring devices, worldwide.
Under the agreement, Schiller AP will serve as the master distributor, supplying HiCardi to local medical device distributors in each country. Dong-A ST plans to use Schiller AP’s distribution network and local market experience to expand the business according to the market conditions of each country.
HiCardi is a wearable patient monitoring platform developed by medical device company MEZOO and marketed by Dong-A ST.
When a lightweight patch-like device is attached to a patient’s body, medical professionals can monitor multiple vital signs in real time, including ECG, heart rate, respiratory rate, skin temperature and oxygen saturation. The platform can remotely monitor multiple patients simultaneously, reducing the space and mobility constraints associated with conventional ECG equipment.
HiCardi is expanding overseas after first building experience in South Korean medical settings. In 2020, it became the first wearable device to be recognized for reimbursement under the health insurance coverage category for ECG bedside monitoring. Last year, it also received reimbursement recognition for monitoring using remote heart rate technology.
The company has also secured regulatory approvals for overseas expansion. HiCardi+ H100 received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance in 2024. The device incorporates “on-device machine learning” technology that analyzes vital signs in real time directly on the patch.
Dong-A ST is also expanding its digital healthcare business in South Korea and overseas. In South Korea, HiCardi has been adopted by more than 800 hospitals nationwide, including 28 tertiary hospitals and 86 general hospitals.
Overseas, the company has entered the Latin American market. Dong-A ST signed an exclusive sales agreement for HiCardi with Brazil’s CARDIO WEB and introduced the product to the Brazilian market last year. HiCardi+ also received approval for use from Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) in February last year.
The digital healthcare business is also making a growing contribution to the company’s results. Dong-A ST’s digital healthcare revenue reached about $1.2 million in the first quarter of this year, surpassing half of the business’s full-year revenue from last year in just three months.
A Dong-A ST official said, “This agreement is significant in that it establishes a foundation for expanding HiCardi’s overseas market presence by leveraging Schiller’s global medical device business experience and distribution network in the Asia-Pacific region.”
The official added, “We will proceed smoothly with regulatory approvals and market entry in each country and continue to expand HiCardi’s global business.”