Wei Kang was shocked, and he suddenly understood why the other party had so many problems.
Alzheimer's disease!
It turns out that this is the answer the other party ultimately wants to know.
Alzheimer's disease, commonly known as Alzheimer's disease, is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that develops slowly and worsens over time. The real cause is still unknown.
Studies have linked the disease to the abnormal accumulation of two proteins in the brain: tau and beta-amyloid.
The most mainstream inference is that β-amyloid accumulates first, causing neuronal synaptic dysfunction. Tau protein hyperphosphorylation and secondary inflammatory reactions lead to neuronal degeneration and death, thus engulfing memory, cognition and other functions.
As people age, beta-amyloid plaques accumulate in the brain of some people, and these plaques are particularly abundant in the hippocampus region (related to learning and memory functions) in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, most current clinical trials target beta-amyloid in an attempt to break down or prevent the formation of beta-amyloid plaques.
As human life expectancy increases, approximately one person in the world develops Alzheimer's disease every 3 seconds. It is expected that the global number of Alzheimer's patients will double every 20 years to 152 million by 2050. , becoming an urgent medical problem and social problem that needs to be solved globally.
According to Eagle Country data alone, related treatment costs could reach $1 trillion in 2018 and as much as $2 trillion in 2030.
It is currently believed that the most effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease is to enhance cholinergic neurotransmission in the brain and reduce acetylcholine (ACh) hydrolysis; in addition, protecting nerve cells from Aβ-induced cell damage and apoptosis is important for prevention and treatment. Alzheimer's disease also has positive effects.
However, there is still no drug that can completely cure the disease, and existing drugs can only slow down the symptoms.
The research and development of new drugs for Alzheimer's disease has almost become a blind spot in the medical field. No new drugs have been approved for many years, and no drug that can completely cure it has emerged so far.
There is currently a targeted drug on the market in China. Although it has largely filled the gap in domestic drugs, from a global perspective, the development situation of new drugs for Alzheimer's disease is still grim.
Over the years, global pharmaceutical companies have invested huge amounts of money in the research and development of Alzheimer's disease drugs. However, most of them have failed.
Previous research reports show that from 1998 to 2017, 146 Alzheimer's drugs have failed in clinical trials around the world, with a clinical failure rate as high as 97.3%. Among them, 40% failed in early clinical trials (phase 0, phase I, and phase I/II), 39% failed in mid-term clinical trials (phase II, phase II/III), and 18% failed in late-stage clinical trials.
International pharmaceutical giants including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Roche, Merck, AstraZeneca, etc. have experienced failures in the clinical trial stage.
At present, the R&D pipelines of major companies around the world are almost all focused on pathway development based on the two theoretical foundations of "β-amyloid hypothesis" and "Tau protein hypothesis". However, there are too many failure cases, especially those of BACE and Aβ. The high failure rate on the target has led to continuous questioning of the β-amyloid hypothesis from academic to clinical to pharmaceutical.
A few years ago, Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical company, made a public statement announcing that it would end its ongoing early-stage clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease and completely cease all research projects on related neurological diseases.
But even if Pfizer withdraws completely, companies such as Roche, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, and Takeda will still insist on research and development of Alzheimer's drugs.
Some domestic pharmaceutical companies have also started research and development of new drugs for Alzheimer's disease.
Because, in the response to Alzheimer's disease, the successful development of new drugs means a huge market worth trillions.
The research and development of new drugs for Alzheimer's disease is extremely difficult. Even international giants with outstanding research and development capabilities are finding it difficult to make progress. Faced with rapidly rising research and development costs and no progress, they have made their own choices.
There is no doubt that Alzheimer's disease will become an alchemy stone that all pharmaceutical companies will face.
When those pharmaceutical giants hesitate to move forward, only cutting-edge pharmaceutical companies that show fearless adventurous spirit and make all-out efforts can earn a piece of the world and sit on the new Iron Throne.
Alzheimer's disease is not only a terminal disease, but also has a huge impact on society.
Because the vast majority of patients are unable to take care of themselves and require the labor of young adults to take care of them, this drag on families and society is undoubtedly devastating.
Especially in the future, mankind is about to enter an aging society. There will be fewer and fewer young adults, and they will also need to take care of the elderly at home. If the elderly suffer from Alzheimer's disease, the upcoming long-term care will be much more terrifying than cancer. .
Wei Kang suddenly remembered that Pfizer announced a few years ago that it would stop research and development projects on this disease.
Combined with Chen Yiqing's experience at Pfizer, he immediately understood why the other party still wanted to leave after being promoted.
Probably because he is completely disappointed with pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer.
Come to think of it, the Pfizer incident was a real sensation at the time.
Because its behavior raises a difficult question for society.
Every pharmaceutical company, especially the absolute leader in the pharmaceutical field, will face a social problem.
What role should they play in the development of drugs for some difficult-to-treat diseases or rare diseases?
Savior or Reaper?
No one can stay away from this issue. Every pharmaceutical company is deep in the whirlpool and facing a difficult new situation.
That is, the balance between the rising costs of new drug research and development and the decreasing success rate has long been out of balance.
People thought silently and began to seek new breakthroughs.
Wei Kang also had his own thoughts on this.
He felt at the time that perhaps the major pharmaceutical giants should invest financial and material resources into basic theoretical research that might be destined to remain silent?
When there is a major breakthrough in basic theoretical research, the solution to Alzheimer's disease may be a matter of course.
Numerous examples in history have proven this to be correct.
But he was just a student at the time, and this idea only passed through his mind.
He never imagined that a few years later, he would be sitting in an office and in charge of an emerging pharmaceutical giant.
And the company's future R&D director will ask questions about Alzheimer's disease.
He thought of Chen Yiqing's later experience again.
After Chen Yiqing left Pfizer, he immediately returned to China to participate in a domestic pharmaceutical company's new drug research and development project for Alzheimer's disease.
This domestic pharmaceutical company named Green Sunshine later made a major breakthrough in this project, and has already launched new drugs into the medical insurance market.
Although the efficacy has not been widely verified, it has at least filled a gap in related domestic fields.
He couldn't help but be curious, why did Chen Yiqing continue to ask himself such a question after his predecessor's company developed a new drug?
"Dr. Chen, you have asked many questions, so before I answer, I want to ask you a question."
Chen Yiqing regained his composure instantly: "I know what you want to ask. If it is related to green sunshine, since our chat is quite speculative, I can reveal some information, but I need you to keep it secret, because I don't want to Cause any trouble.”
"This company hired me to conduct research and development of new drugs for Alzheimer's disease. It mainly used my name and my authoritative status in Pfizer to endorse it, so as to apply for state subsidies and attract investment from all parties."
"In the beginning, I did agree with their approach and was happy to support them."
"However, I gradually realized that something was wrong. I was slowly squeezed out of the project, and all of my R&D personnel were transferred and other project teams were established."
"And I didn't know anything about the content of their new project. I was kept in the dark and lost control of all the research and development matters."
"Haha," Chen Yiqing smiled miserably: "Later, when the so-called new drug was launched, I realized that I had become a joke."
"I could only leave sadly. Since then, I have lost trust in all pharmaceutical companies and have been staying at home."
"If it hadn't been for the invitation from Sanqing, I might have left the industry after a while."
"Perhaps doing pure experiments in university is the right destination for me." He said lightly, the unwillingness and sadness in his expression fleeting.
The indifference and alienation in his temperament returned, and the light in his eyes dimmed a bit.
Wei Kang looked at him and sighed in his heart. He had an impulse to tell the other party that Sanqing was willing to take on the responsibility to society and embark on this track.
This is not out of sympathy or pity, but from a feeling in my heart many years ago.
What was an idea back then has become a reality.
Now that he has the money and ability, he has invested his financial resources in basic theoretical research that may be destined to remain silent.
Now he still lacks people to devote himself to the research and development of new drugs for Alzheimer's disease, a social problem.
But before agreeing to anything, he had one more question.
"Dr. Chen, I can give you the answer, but you need to tell me one thing."
"I want to know what really makes you so obsessed with developing new drugs for Alzheimer's disease."
"Is it the personal reason you mentioned?"
