The group of people came to another laboratory. There were several white mice in cages in the corner.
At Wei Kang's signal, the researchers introduced it in detail.
"These five mice were injected with a new type of painkiller five minutes ago, and it should have taken effect now. The mice should have temporarily lost their sense of pain. Let us verify how effective the drug is."
The researcher took out a mouse and cut off a section of its tail with a knife in front of everyone.
The expected squeaking scream did not come, and the mouse was indifferent and showed no reaction at all, as if its tail was not cut off, but just a few hairs were lost.
Du Cheng opened his eyes wide, observed the mouse carefully, and marveled.
The mouse that lost its tail was simply bandaged and put back into the cage. It walked to the food bowl as if nothing had happened and ate with relish.
The visitors were amazed at the scene in front of them. At this time, the researchers handed over several phase III clinical trial reports.
"This painkiller has reached the third phase of clinical trials. If all goes well, it will be approved and marketed soon."
"This is a new non-opioid analgesic that can block certain ion channels in neurons that are involved in transmitting painful stimuli. It is highly safe, has strong analgesic ability, has no sedative effect, and is not addictive."
Du Cheng's eyes lit up, he reached out to take the Phase III clinical trial report and read it carefully.
Several other people also showed interested expressions and read the report very seriously.
Painkillers are a very old and huge market, originating from ancient opiates, and drugs such as morphine extracted from them, which have been widely used in people's lives until now.
As the world ages, an increasing number of people will be affected by chronic pain. In addition, the increase in surgical and oral surgeries in recent years has also driven the demand for painkillers, and people's demand for pain relief is increasing day by day.
The global painkiller market size is US$71 billion and is expected to grow to US$92 billion in the next five years.
Currently, opioid analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) occupy the mainstream position among analgesics. Among them, opioid analgesics occupy the mainstream in overseas markets, while the latter leads in other regions.
China's analgesic market is small, currently about US$530 million, and most of it is used for surgical analgesia. There is a big gap between this aspect and developed countries. However, with aging and the rapid increase in the incidence of cancer, chronic analgesics, including opioids, are gradually occupying the domestic pharmaceutical market.
Pain can be divided into acute pain and chronic pain. Acute pain includes trauma and postoperative pain, and chronic pain involves a variety of diseases, including neuropathic pain (neuralgia, migraine, diabetic neuralgia, etc.); nociceptive pain ( Osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis), organ-related pain (visceral-related pain, pancreatitis, etc.), mixed pain (low back pain, cancer pain, fibromyalgia, etc.), etc.
According to statistics, the global incidence of pain is about 20%, half of which comes from chronic pain.
Opioids mainly achieve analgesic purposes by inhibiting the pain center and have strong analgesic effects. They are commonly used for acute and postoperative pain, pain caused by cancer, and moderate to severe chronic pain.
Opioids do not have a ceiling effect and the analgesic effect can be increased by increasing the dose, but long-term use can lead to addiction. Common drugs include morphine, oxycodone, fentanyl, tramadol, etc.
Drug addiction caused by the abuse of such painkillers in overseas countries has always been a very difficult social problem.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs achieve analgesic effects by inhibiting the synthesis of inflammation-related pain-causing substances. Suitable for pain caused by inflammation and postoperative pain.
This type of analgesic is non-addictive, but the analgesic effect is weak and has a ceiling effect. That is, after the drug dose reaches a certain level, increasing the dose will not enhance the analgesic effect, but will only increase the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and myocardial infarction. and various side effects of stroke. Commonly used aspirin, ibuprofen, etc. all fall into this category.
Due to the growing problem of opioid abuse, companies that manufacture various opioids have withdrawn their products and stopped promoting them, and opioids have gradually declined.
The analgesic effect of NSAIDs is too weak to be satisfactory.
Therefore, major pharmaceutical companies have set their sights on the research and development of other types of analgesics, and they are extremely eager to discover a new and powerful analgesic drug.
However, non-addictive, non-sedating powerful painkillers are still just a dream. Until now, the most effective painkillers are still opium preparations that have existed since the Stone Age.
Opiates are not only the best-selling painkillers in the world, but also the highest-selling of all drugs in that year. Hundreds of millions of prescriptions are filled for this painkiller every year to relieve people's severe pain.
However, with the development of science and technology, in the past 20 years, major pharmaceutical companies have been inspired by patients with congenital analgesia and discovered a channel that controls the entry of sodium ions into sensory neurons. People who have lost the function of this channel are innately sensitive to painful stimuli. Insensitivity quickly made neuronal analgesic pathways potential analgesic targets.
Sanqing, an analgesic, is a new type of drug that can act on analgesic pathways. It can suppress any degree of pain, which is equivalent to temporarily cutting off the pain transmission between neuron networks, making people unable to feel pain.
After taking it, people can perfectly experience the feeling of congenital painlessness.
Being pain-free sounds great, but in reality, in everyday life, it's a scary thing.
Pain can help people avoid injuries, such as putting their hands in boiling water or hitting their heads on their legs.
In developing countries, people who cannot feel pain often die young. In developed countries, children can only survive to adulthood if their families have enough resources to monitor them 24 hours a day to ensure they are not harmed.
Fortunately, painkillers only make people temporarily lose the feeling of pain, which is a dream for patients who have suffered from long-term pain.
Pain is one of the most common human sufferings and a symptom that everyone experiences.
Sanqing’s new painkiller can provide a reliable and safe treatment solution, which will be good news to everyone.
"Awesome! These clinical trial data are simply amazing." Du Cheng couldn't help but marvel.
“Sanqing is a drug that has performed well in the treatment of ten types of pain, including neuropathic migraine, rheumatoid arthritis pain, and chronic cancer pain. It can greatly reduce the patient’s pain and is tolerable. The sex is good and there are no obvious adverse reactions.”
"This is exactly what our soldiers need. In terms of battlefield treatment, not only stopping bleeding is important, but pain relief is also essential."
Du Cheng closed the test report and said to Wei Kang with excitement: "I believe that hemostatic spray and analgesics can not only become special medicines for the military, but also become important strategic materials."
"Minister of Health, please register the military drug approval for painkillers as soon as possible and submit clinical data. We will speed up the approval."
Wei Kang smiled and nodded. This result was what he expected. Sanqing suddenly released two special military medicines, which was a good thing from every aspect.
I just don’t know, what does this so-called strategic material mean, and what are its specific impacts?
After all, painkillers are a golden molecule worth tens of billions of dollars.
