The distance between a trade-show stand and a hospital can determine how quickly a medical innovation reaches a patient. At the CIIE, Johnson & Johnson MedTech and Pfizer have used product debuts as the beginning of that journey rather than its end.

Johnson & Johnson MedTech’s ETHICON™ 4000, a laparoscopic stapler with a pre-installed chip and 3D stapling technology, received Chinese market approval on the opening day of the expo where it was presented. The simultaneous approval and launch removed the usual interval between a debut and commercial availability. More than 1,000 procedures have since been performed with the device, according to the company.

The MONARCH Platform, a robotic-assisted system for diagnosis and treatment through the body’s natural airways, made its Asian debut at the CIIE. It was later approved in China, where the company established its first demonstration and training center in the country.

ETHICON™ 4000 stapler. (Photo / Johnson & Johnson MedTech)

Impella® percutaneous left ventricular assist pump. (Photo / Johnson & Johnson MedTech)

Another device first shown at the CIIE has been used in a high-risk cardiac case at Beijing Anzhen Hospital. Doctors treating a patient with several completely blocked coronary arteries used the Impella® percutaneous left-ventricular assist pump to support the procedure. The pump had made its Chinese debut at the seventh CIIE.

Zhou Mintao, president of Johnson & Johnson MedTech China, said the expo’s main value lies in what happens after a product is seen: adapting technology for local use, coordinating the supply chain and getting it to patients.

Johnson & Johnson MedTech’s stand at the 8th CIIE. (Photo / Johnson & Johnson MedTech)

Pfizer has described the expo in similar terms. Marstacimab, a treatment for haemophilia, was first displayed in China at the seventh edition in 2024. For patients who previously faced several intravenous infusions each week, the treatment can be given as a single subcutaneous injection. “Something I did not dare imagine is now possible,” one patient wrote on social media.

At the 2025 CIIE, Pfizer presented new LORBRENA data showing that 70 percent of patients remained progression-free at five years, with no brain metastases reported. The results show how a product once showcased at the expo is now changing outcomes for Chinese lung cancer patients.34

Pfizer’s stand at the 8th CIIE. (Photo / Pfizer)

Hympavzi (marstacimab-hncq) injection. (Photo / Pfizer)

Ecnoglutide injection. (Photo / Pfizer)

Since Pfizer first attended in 2020, it has displayed 17 innovative products at the CIIE across oncology, rare diseases, vaccines and anti-infective treatment. Pfizer has also observed a change in what Chinese visitors ask about. Pfizer China president Jean-Christophe Pointeau said people once focused more on treating serious disease. They increasingly ask about prevention, long-term health management and quality of life alongside treatment.

At the ninth CIIE, Pfizer highlights weight management. Ecnoglutide, a medicine developed from Nobel Prize-winning research, makes its first public appearance worldwide after receiving market approval.