There is no topic in the world that is more controversial and stirs up public emotions than the gap between rich and poor.
Especially after the Novartis CEO’s original remarks about sky-high-priced drugs broke out, it caused even more waves.
The CEO countered critics by comparing the cost of organ transplants in Eagle Country.
"A transplant operation in Eagle Country often costs 3 to 5 million US dollars, which is much higher than a dose of genetic drugs. However, when it comes to efficacy, genetic drugs may not be as guaranteed to improve the disease (such as transplant failure, etc.). Shouldn't everyone Isn’t it about the way the medical system operates that we need to reflect on?”
After this statement was spread on the Internet by domestic media, it set off a wave of boycotts of imported high-priced drugs and support for domestically produced drugs.
"Haha, the high cost of medicine in Eagle Country is their problem. Don't even think about selling high-priced medicine in China."
"In a society where an ambulance costs US$3,000, of course it will take US$2 million for medication as a matter of course. Haha, how can it show how bright the beacon of capitalism is if it is not expensive?"
"Fortunately, our country has publicly funded medical care, and the state can reimburse most of it. Thanks to the country, I am lucky to be born in China."
"Yes, when it comes to medical care, Eagle Country is definitely in hell mode. If you don't get a good pregnancy and get a serious illness, you might as well just cancel your account and start over."
"This CEO's face is really disgusting. They have bought more than 900 million US dollars for the Novartis drug since it was launched. They have already paid back their capital. Do they still plan to sell it for 2 million US dollars for ten years?"
"If there are no competing products, of course we will continue to sell them at sky-high prices. No capitalist will think that the money is too much. Even if they don't sell to the poor, they will never sell it to you for a dime cheaper."
"If the milk cannot be sold, it will be thrown away. This expensive drug will be sold to you cheaply. It's a beautiful idea."
"I hope Sanqing's medicine will be on the market soon. Even if it is a little more expensive, it will certainly not be as expensive as tens of millions."
"Hey, high-priced drugs have always been a problem. I hope the government can work with pharmaceutical companies to come up with a solution. It would be best to allow pharmaceutical companies to make money while allowing patients to get treatment. That would be a great benefit."
In the area of gene therapy, starting from ancient science fiction, people have continued to use their imagination to depict societies where the gap between rich and poor is extremely polarizing.
There is the "Terminator" that the public is familiar with, and the "Cyberpunk" world of high technology and low life.
In these future worlds, rich people and financial groups control everything, and the people at the bottom have nothing and can only sell everything they have in exchange for meager resources to survive.
Even natural resources such as air and water have been seized by the upper class to exploit the people.
And the people who have been squeezed out of the last drop of oil will not escape the tragic end of being burned to ashes and turned into fat until they die.
People naturally have a fear and worry about this possible phenomenon.
People abroad may have become numb to the gap between rich and poor in life. They are not surprised by it. Some people even think that this is a concern for the operation of society and an eternal truth of the universe.
But this is an intolerable phenomenon in China. Every time the extravagant life of the rich leaks out, they will be condemned and scolded by the public. Under the beating of the iron fist of the people, the rich have learned to keep a low profile. Try to avoid arousing public outrage.
And people in this country are also accustomed to this kind of socialist political correctness.
Not to mention medical care, patients in China enjoy the most favorable medical treatment in the world.
Even for an epidemic infectious disease like SARS, domestic patients basically receive free medical care.
Apart from China, in which other country can people enjoy the top-notch free medical treatment?
If you need to go to ICU, go to ICU. It doesn't matter how much it costs, as long as you can save the person. There are many cases where people spent millions to save them.
In a country like Eagle Country, any treatment is charged, there is no such thing as free.
If the patient does not buy insurance, he or she has to pay for it all out of pocket. The cost is very expensive, ridiculously expensive. Even if insurance pays a large portion, most people cannot afford even 10% of the out-of-pocket cost.
In a country where ambulances cost thousands of dollars, the cost of hospitalization for serious illness is sky-high.
The price of Sanqing's anti-cancer drugs in Eagle Country is as high as US$100,000. It is completely normal for a patient to go bankrupt after suffering from cancer after successive treatments.
This is also the reason why painkillers are so popular in Eagle Country. Just take a painkiller if there is no big deal, relieve the pain, and continue to live your life.
That's why China's medical insurance is so keen on centralized purchasing and does its best to drive down the price of medicines.
Anyway, China has a large population and a large number of patients. If pharmaceutical companies increase sales and reduce prices significantly, it is a strategy of small profits but quick turnover, which is not unacceptable.
But the situation with rare diseases is different. Although there are many types of diseases, all of which are hereditary diseases, there are not many patients for each type of disease alone.
The incidence of SMA is approximately 1 in 6,000 to 10,000 people.
Based on this estimate, there may be 20,000 to 30,000 patients in China.
If pharmaceutical companies develop new drugs for each disease individually, it will naturally be very expensive.
Even if there are medicines available, family income has become a big problem in the face of rare diseases. It is just a drop in the bucket. "Exorbitantly expensive medicines" have become a helpless choice for many patients and their families.
There are more than 300 million rare disease patients worldwide, 50% of whom are children. There are approximately 20 million rare disease patients in China.
In terms of total volume, this is actually a huge market.
You know, there are more than 7,000 known rare diseases in the world, 80% of which are genetic diseases.
If a mature and convenient gene technology can be used for gene therapy, it may be able to alleviate the problem of high treatment costs.
How to turn sky-high-priced drugs into life-saving medicines will become a social problem that Chinese medical experts need to solve urgently.
As time passed, all 30 patients in the first clinical phase received intravenous injections of genetic drugs.
The children ranged from 2 months to 4 years old, and all suffered from severe SMA.
After receiving treatment, Sanqing researchers will follow up on their daily progress and conduct various internal organ function tests to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the drug.
From the first day after the injection, the condition of these children has affected the hearts of parents.
Lentivirus takes a long time to take effect, especially when infecting neuronal cells with slow metabolism, which takes about 2-3 days.
The parents were waiting anxiously in the ward, all of them restless.
Guju
Finally, a girl lying on the hospital bed slowly raised her hand and took off the ventilator.
She suppressed her blush and breathed in the fresh air, her chest rising and falling.
This was Chen Jianfeng's daughter Nini. He rushed over like a whirlwind in an instant, holding a glass of water in his hand and asked anxiously: "What's wrong? Nini?"
The little girl shook her head and said nothing. She made a whooshing sound in her mouth and spit out several mouthfuls of mucus.
Chen Jianfeng took out a tissue, caught it, threw it in the trash can, and looked at his daughter with concern.
The little girl coughed a few more times and seemed to feel better. She looked up at him, her mouth moved, and she actually spit out a sentence.
"dad!"
Chen Jianfeng was suddenly filled with tears and almost cried.
He grabbed his daughter's hand and kept asking.
"Are you feeling better? Can you breathe? Do you have any strength?"
The daughter nodded and spoke incoherently: "Dad, I can breathe. I seem to have some strength."
At this time, Chen Jianfeng was surrounded by other parents.
Everyone let out bursts of exclamation and congratulated him in unison.
Within a few minutes, the doctor also rushed into the ward. After an inspection, he said with surprise: "Great, the child can breathe on his own, and his upper limbs have also regained strength. This shows that the motor neuron protein in the body is increasing. "
"Here, drink this glass of water and see."
Watching Nini drink the water, make a few more movements, and finally even lift up with some difficulty, half lying on the pillow.
Everyone present had joy on their faces.
The doctor also looked pleased: "Very good, her respiratory system is recovering very well now, and the next step is to recover the muscles of the whole body. She should be able to sit up in two days, and she is expected to be able to stand against the wall this week. This kind of progress It’s amazing.”
"I have never seen such a miraculous drug. Technology is developing so fast."
The doctor sighed a few times and began to examine other patients.
The recovery progress of these children was also good, and they were all taken off the ventilator that day.
Within a few days, most of them recovered their breathing and swallowing abilities and were able to eat on their own.
All this makes parents overjoyed.
The bigger surprise lies behind.
Three days later, the children were able to sit up, and some babies who were too young could crawl around on the hospital bed.
There was an atmosphere of joy in the ward.
After a week, all the children were able to stand up on their own and stand against the wall for long periods of time.
Several babies got tired after sitting and playing for a while and fell on the bed. They have recovered to not tired after playing for a whole day.
The children also ate more, gained weight, and their faces returned to the color of a red apple.
The effectiveness of genetic medicine has been verified, and we will continue to pay attention to it for a period of time to verify its safety.
Laboratory test reports have also come out. The normal smn1 gene levels derived from gene therapy in various somatic cell types have increased significantly, and the SMA protein level has also reached the level of normal people.
The results are encouraging and demonstrate the great success of the clinical trial.
Two weeks later, all 30 children had returned to normal and could be discharged.
In the future, they only need to come to the hospital for review every week.
After a period of time, if the safety results are reassuring, you can recheck again in a few months.
Although the lentiviral vector used by Sanqing has been optimized in design and uses some genetic insulators to block nearby gene activation, making it safer, follow-up must still be continued to avoid any long-term side effects, such as possible precancerous Signs of cell proliferation.
The parents were all very happy, leaving their contact information and leaving with their children who had recovered from health.
Chen Jianfeng walked out of the hospital gate and couldn't help but look back.
The eight characters "Kunshi First People's Hospital" shone with a layer of holy golden light in his eyes.
The drugs used in this clinical trial are free, but the hospitalization and examination fees still have to be paid by the patient. After reimbursement by medical insurance, it costs about several thousand yuan, but in exchange for the birth of two children.
This experience was like a sweet dream to him. It was not until the moment he walked out of the hospital that he realized that the fate of his family had completely changed.
"Old Chen, we drove here. Let's go back to Hangzhou together."
Several acquaintances came behind him, all of whom were from Hangzhou among the patients, and greeted him warmly.
These parents have been getting along for half a month and have established deep friendships with each other.
Chen Jianfeng smiled honestly, nodded, pulled the two children, and followed closely.
Soon, the first batch of photos of recovered clinical patients were posted by their parents among their acquaintances of the patients.
Photos of children playing healthily.
Just like torpedoes, they completely exploded the group.
All the parents couldn't sit still.
