On November 6, 2025, at the 8th China International Import Expo, YHLO, a leading domestic in vitro diagnostic (IVD) enterprise, and Sanofi, a global healthcare giant, jointly launched the "China Type 1 Diabetes Ecosystem Co-construction Cooperation Alliance". At the same time, it was announced that the world's first innovative drug for delaying the progression of type 1 diabetes, Torimab ? (tislizumab Injection), has officially been launched in China. This significant cooperation in the medical and health field not only propjects China's diabetes diagnosis and treatment into a new stage of "active intervention", but also opens up a new growth point in the medical niche market for the rubber products industry.
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The core of cooperation: The material requirements behind the "diagnosis + treatment" closed loop
The collaboration between YHLO and Sanofi has established a full-course management system covering early screening, precise diagnosis and innovative treatment. Yhloon, with its core advantages such as a five-step islet autoantibody detection package and adiponectin early warning technology, provides key detection support for the ecosystem. Meanwhile, Sanofi's innovative drugs have improved the treatment process, forming a complete closed loop of "diagnosis + treatment".
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The implementation of this system cannot do without the support of various medical equipment and consumables. Among them, rubber products, as basic materials in the medical field, play an irreplaceable role: precision seals in detection equipment and rubber components of sensors need to have corrosion resistance and high stability, while medical gloves, infusion tubes and other consumables used in the diagnosis and treatment process have strict requirements for the biocompatibility and safety of rubber. The testing equipment of YHLO, which covers 70% of the top-tier hospitals across the country, and its product system that is exported to 120 countries and regions are all driven by the continuous demand for high-quality medical rubber materials.
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Industry Insight: Medical innovation drives the upgrading of rubber materials
Yhlo's technological layout in the full-course management of diabetes has pointed out a precise and high-end development direction for the rubber products industry. The promotion of its digital and intelligent islet function standardized index (PIFI) platform may give rise to the demand for flexible rubber sensors in smart wearable devices. The popularization of early screening technology will drive the increase of testing equipment in primary medical institutions and further expand the market space for medical rubber components.
From the perspective of industry trends, the global market size of medical rubber products is expected to exceed 43 billion US dollars in 2025, with the growth rate of the Chinese market remaining above 8%. With the advancement of integrated medical diagnosis and treatment, the performance requirements for rubber materials are becoming increasingly strict: they not only need to meet the basic sealing and protective functions, but also possess properties such as anti-aging, resistance to chemical interference, and good biocompatibility. This provides an opportunity for rubber product enterprises to upgrade their technologies, such as developing high-precision sealing rubber suitable for medical testing equipment and flexible rubber materials for wearable devices.
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The breakthrough direction for rubber enterprises
The cross-industry collaboration between YHLO and Sanofi has confirmed the core value of industrial chain cooperation. For rubber product enterprises, opportunities can be seized from two aspects: On the one hand, focus on niche scenarios such as medical testing equipment and medical consumables, and develop rubber products that meet industry standards in a targeted manner to meet the supply chain demands of IVD enterprises and medical device manufacturers; On the other hand, it is necessary to enhance technological collaboration with enterprises in the medical field, gain a deeper understanding of the actual needs of the diagnosis and treatment scenarios, and make early preparations for the research and development of high-performance medical rubber materials to seize the initiative in the high-end market.
Innovation in the medical and health field has never ceased, and rubber products, as basic materials, are gradually becoming an important support for the implementation of medical technology. The new medical ecosystem initiated by the collaboration between YHLO and Sanofi not only brings benefits to patients but also opens up a new window for high-quality development in the rubber products industry. In the future, as more medical innovation achievements are implemented, the application scenarios of rubber products in the medical field will continue to expand, and the market potential is worth looking forward to.
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The current market performance of medical rubber
1. Global and Chinese Market Size
According to market research institutions' predictions, the global medical rubber products market size is expected to reach 45 billion US dollars by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 6.8%. The growth rate of the Chinese market is significantly higher than that of the global market. It is expected that the CAGR will reach 8.5% from 2025 to 2030, and the market size is expected to exceed 70 billion yuan by 2030.
The performance of China's segmented markets
Medical gloves: The market size is expected to reach 22 billion yuan in 2025. The proportion of nitrile gloves will increase to 55% and further rise to 65% by 2030, becoming the mainstream product.
Medical sealing parts: The market size was 4.73 billion yuan in 2024 and is expected to grow to 5.14 billion yuan (CAGR 8.7%) in 2025. Silicone rubber accounts for 62% of the material share due to its biocompatibility advantage.
High-end medical consumables: The demand for interventional therapy balloon catheters, heart valves and other products is growing rapidly. The global market size is expected to reach 12 billion US dollars by 2025, with China accounting for more than 25%.
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2. Material Upgrading and Technological Trends
Nitrile rubber has replaced latex. Nitrile gloves have seen a rapid increase in penetration in high-end medical scenarios such as surgery and chemotherapy due to their advantages like puncture resistance (300% higher than latex) and no risk of allergies. The market share of nitrile gloves in China is expected to reach 55% in 2025 and exceed 65% in 2030, while the share of latex gloves will drop to 35%.
Application of high-performance Materials
Silicone rubber: It accounts for 62% in implantable medical devices (such as pacemakers) and long-term indwelling devices. The market size of medical-grade silicone rubber in China is expected to reach 11.02 billion yuan in 2025, with a year-on-year growth of 11.7%.
Fluororubber: With its corrosion resistance and high-temperature stability, it holds a 23% market share in the sealing parts of autoclave equipment and is mainly used in high-end equipment such as surgical robots and dialysis devices.
Intelligent and green innovation
The application proportion of liquid silicone rubber (LSR) in minimally invasive surgical instruments has increased from 26.8% in 2020 to 34.2% in 2024, and it is expected to further expand in 2025.
Environmentally friendly materials such as bio-based nitrile rubber and degradable latex have entered the pilot production stage and are expected to gradually replace 5% to 8% of traditional raw materials after 2026.
Iii. Regional and Industrial Chain Layout
Regional distribution in China
In the eastern coastal areas, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces account for 60% of the national production capacity of medical rubber products. Among them, Guangdong Province's consumption is expected to reach 5.2 million tons in 2025, accounting for 61% of the national total.
The rise of the central and western regions: Relying on policy support and the expansion of primary medical care, the market consumption in provinces such as Henan and Hunan is expected to reach 800,000 tons and 700,000 tons respectively by 2025, and double by 2030.
Industrial chain collaboration
Raw material supply: Domestic nitrile rubber production capacity will reach 920,000 tons in 2024 and is expected to exceed 1.2 million tons in 2027. The increase in domestic production rate will drive down the cost of medical gloves by 3% to 5%.
Leading enterprises' layout: Lanfan Medical, Intco Medical and others have locked in the supply of latex and nitrile latex by extending upstream. The daily production capacity of each intelligent production line exceeds 2 million units, and the production cost is 15% to 20% lower than the industry average.
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3.Policies and Export Opportunities
The domestic policy-driven "Medical Device Industry Development Plan" clearly supports the research and development of high-performance synthetic rubber and bio-based materials. By 2024, an additional 2,100 medical rubber products will obtain Class III medical device registration certificates, and the domestic production rate will increase from 40% to 46%.
In 2024, China's export value of medical rubber products reached 10.83 billion US dollars, increasing by 7.1% year-on-year. Among them, the proportion of high value-added products such as nitrile gloves and antibacterial coated seals rose from 31.2% to 35.8%, mainly exported to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
