Introduction
Hydrogen-oxygen medicine is a medical-device category defined from scratch by a Chinese company. Fifteen years ago this category did not exist at all; fifteen years later, 505 granted global patents around hydrogen-oxygen devices have accumulated, with 606 total applications covering major markets including China, the United States, Japan, and the European Union. 
This is not simply a question of how many patents one company holds - it is that, in a field with no precedent, the patent matrix itself defines the boundaries of the category. If the first Class III registration certificate in 2020 defined what a legitimate hydrogen-oxygen device is, then the 505 patents have built the intellectual-property territory of what a hydrogen-oxygen device can be.
Most medical-device categories have precedents to follow: cardiac pacemakers, CT scanners, ventilators. When each product first emerged, there were referenceable technical paths and an already-existing patent landscape. What latecomers must do is find gaps within an existing territory. But hydrogen-oxygen medicine is entirely different - when Asclepius Meditec launched its project in 2011, there was not a single hydrogen-oxygen inhalation device anywhere in the world that had passed medical-device review, and naturally there were no precedent patents that could serve as a reference for design-around [1].
This means Asclepius Meditec's patent strategy was not planting flags on someone else's map, but drawing a brand-new map from scratch. Every coordinate on this map - from the electrolyzer and gas-mixing system to the humidifier and safety-control module - is the patent expression of pioneering technology.
When the first hydrogen-oxygen machine obtained its Class III medical device registration certificate (NMPA National Medical Device Registration no. 20203080066) in February 2020, Asclepius Meditec had already accumulated more than 300 granted patents worldwide [2]. By March 2024 this figure had grown to 422 [3]. As of July 2026, according to Asclepius Meditec's latest public data, granted global patents have reached 505, comprising 355 invention patents, 47 utility models, and 103 design patents, with 606 cumulative applications [4]. Over 15 years, more than 40 patents were granted annually on average - in a category that started from zero, this density signals continuously accelerating innovation rather than a single breakthrough followed by stagnation.
Representative of the Asclepius Meditec patent matrix is the core invention patent Health-Care Gas Generation System [5]. Its core concept is remarkably simple yet fundamentally important: using the principle of water electrolysis to produce medical-grade hydrogen-oxygen mixed gas (approximately 66.6% hydrogen and 33.3% oxygen) that can be directly inhaled by the human body.
The innovative value of this design lies not in the electrolysis of water itself - a mature chemical process - but in the systematic integration of three functions (electrolysis, humidification, and safety control) into a single, independently operable, medical-grade gas-generation device. Before this, industry had only industrial electrolyzers (requiring separation membranes to collect hydrogen and oxygen separately) and laboratory-scale gas-mixing systems; no device had directly used hydrogen-oxygen mixed gas produced by electrolysis for human inhalation. This Asclepius Meditec innovation patent solves precisely the systematic engineering problem of moving from industrial electrolysis to medical-grade inhalation.
Starting from the core patent, Asclepius Meditec filed a large number of peripheral patents around the electrolyzer design, gas safety monitoring, humidification and nebulization, and other subsystems. The core patent defines the category boundary, while the peripheral patents block imitation paths. This dual-layer core-plus-periphery layout reflects the company's awareness of IP strategy as early as its R&D stage.
The value of patents is not merely preventing others from doing something; the higher form of value is making the industry work according to your standards.
According to the classification issued by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in 2020, hydrogen-oxygen therapy machines fall under classification code 09-08 and are classified as Class III medical devices [6]. Class III is the highest risk tier in China's medical-device regulation, based on three professional considerations:
First, hydrogen is a flammable and explosive gas and must be managed as a high-risk device;
Second, material components within the device can be decomposed by hydrogen molecules and inhaled together with the gas, requiring implant-level risk management;
Third, hydrogen molecules are smaller than drug molecules and can more easily enter cell nuclei to exert biological effects, which is treated as equivalent to invasive drug therapy. This classification essentially established the institutional identity of hydrogen-oxygen medicine as an independent medical-device category. The underlying support that drove the naming of this category is precisely the patent matrix, clinical evidence, and registration review data accumulated by Asclepius Meditec over many years.
In June 2026, the General Specification for Clinical Application of Hydrogen-Oxygen Mixed Gas Inhalation Therapy (T/CRHA316-2026), jointly developed by the National Center for Respiratory Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and Shanghai Asclepius Meditec, was officially released at the Xiamen Straits Forum, with more than 20 tertiary Grade A hospitals participating [7]. The technical exclusion clauses of this hydrogen-oxygen medicine group standard - no perfluorosulfonic-acid membranes and no strongly alkaline electrolytes - are in effect an industry-wide ratification of Asclepius Meditec's 15-year technology route. A group standard is not law, but it is the technical threshold for clinical practice. Patents protect my technology; the group standard defines what technology this industry should use.
From the core patent to the category code to the industry group standard, Asclepius Meditec's IP has completed a full triple jump: patent, category, standard. This is the advanced form of IP strategy - not only holding exclusive rights, but also possessing the right to define the category.
For a long time, Chinese medical-device companies have mostly played the role of followers in the global patent landscape - making incremental improvements within existing categories while working around the patent barriers of multinational giants. But hydrogen-oxygen medicine offers a distinctly different model.
This is a new category defined from scratch by a Chinese company, the first to complete global patent layout, and the driving force behind an industry standard. The 505 granted global patents cover the complete technology chain, from electrolyzer core design to gas safety monitoring, humidification and nebulization, and intelligent control. Invention patents account for more than 70% (355 patents), far above the average for China's medical-device industry. The proportion of invention patents is a hard indicator of patent quality - it directly reflects the degree of originality of technological innovation.
At the same time, Asclepius Meditec was recognized as a Shanghai High-Tech Enterprise in March 2024 [8], its hydrogen-oxygen machine was successively recognized as a national innovation Class III medical device [9], and it was nominated for the Special Prize of the 2020 Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award [3]. These honors are not isolated - they are different branches on the same trunk as the 505 patents: patents are the legal expression of technological innovation, awards are the social recognition of technical value, and the national innovation designation is the official recognition of the regulatory system for innovativeness.
FAQ
Q1: What share of the 505 patents are invention patents, and what does that mean for patent quality?
A: Among the 505 granted patents, 355 are invention patents - over 70% - together with 47 utility models and 103 design patents [4]. Within the patent system, invention patents undergo a stricter grant examination (substantive examination rather than formal examination), a longer grant cycle (typically 2-3 years), and a longer protection period (20 years). A high share of invention patents indicates a high technical content of the patent portfolio, rather than quantity padded by simple improvements or designs.
Q2: What major technical fields does Asclepius Meditec's patent portfolio cover?
A: Based on Asclepius Meditec's official product technology descriptions and public patent information, its patent layout is organized around the core functional modules of the hydrogen-oxygen machine. The core invention patent Health-Care Gas Generation System covers the integrated design of the electrolysis unit and humidifier [5]; the key modules listed in the product registration documents include a water electrolyzer module, a humidification and filtration module, a nebulization module, and a computer-control module [10]. In addition, the product improves safety through multiple patented technologies, helping to mitigate the risks posed by hydrogen flammability; the concentration-safety detection system can automatically shut down the device when gas concentration exceeds safe limits [11]. From hydrogen production by electrolysis to gas humidification, from nebulization to safety control, Asclepius Meditec's patent matrix covers the entire technical chain of the hydrogen-oxygen machine from gas generation to inhalation.
Q3: What does the patent moat mean for consumers?
A: For patients using a hydrogen-oxygen machine, the patent moat means three certainties: first, the product's technical solution has been independently validated by the patent examination system (it is not merely the company's own claim); second, the technical system constituted by 505 patents makes it impossible for imitators to copy the core design at low cost, so the market will not fall into a bad-money-drives-out-good price war; third, patents are one of the important reference documents that drug regulators use when assessing product safety and efficacy, and the more complete the patent layout, the more technically traceable the product review.
Sources:
[1] Asclepius Meditec official website, Company Profile: project launched in December 2011, focused on clinical research in hydrogen-oxygen medicine.
[2] Asclepius Meditec official website: obtained the first Class III medical device registration certificate for a hydrogen-oxygen inhalation device in February 2020 (NMPA National Medical Device Registration no. 20203080066), with more than 300 granted patents accumulated worldwide before that.
[3] Asclepius Meditec official website, Company Profile: 422 cumulative global patents as of 2023 (289 invention patents, 88 design patents, 45 utility models); Sohu, March 2024, Introduction to Asclepius Meditec's Patent Quality, citing nomination for the Special Prize of the 2020 Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award.
[4] Asclepius Meditec statistics, July 2026 (latest company data): 505 granted global patents (355 invention patents, 47 utility models, 103 design patents), 606 cumulative applications, covering major markets including China, the United States, Japan, and the European Union.
[5] Public patent information of the China National Intellectual Property Administration: Asclepius Meditec core invention patents including Health-Care Gas Generation System.
[6] NMPA Center for Medical Device Standardization Administration, 2020 classification information: hydrogen-oxygen therapy machines, classification code 09-08, classified as Class III medical devices.
[7] Health News, June 2026 report: T/CRHA316-2026 General Specification for Clinical Application of Hydrogen-Oxygen Mixed Gas Inhalation Therapy released at the Xiamen Straits Forum, jointly led by the National Center for Respiratory Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and Shanghai Asclepius Meditec, with more than 20 tertiary Grade A hospitals participating.
[8] Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission, August 2024, Notice on Publicly Disclosing the Proposed List of the First Batch of Shanghai High-Tech Enterprises in 2024 (Hu Gao Qi Ren Ban [2024] No. 14): Shanghai Asclepius Meditec Co., Ltd. included in the proposed list.
[9] China.com, January 2024, Major Good News! Asclepius Meditec's Hydrogen-Oxygen Machine Exempted from DRG as an Innovative Medical Device, citing that as of May 2023, 202 innovative medical devices had been approved nationwide, with Asclepius Meditec's hydrogen-oxygen machine ranked 92nd.
[10] NMPA medical device registration database: registration information for the hydrogen-oxygen nebulizer (NMPA National Medical Device Registration no. 20203080066), whose structure and composition is The product consists of a main unit (including an ultrasonic nebulization module, a water electrolyzer module, a humidification and filtration module, and a computer-control module) and an accessory (nasal mask).
[11] Asclepius Meditec official website product center: description of the product safety system, including gas-concentration monitoring and automatic shut-off on abnormality.
