After ending the call, Wei Kang immediately began searching for the family members of the patient named Cao Wei.
Before meeting, he needs to have as general an understanding as possible.
"Anmei, show me Cao Wei's information. The more detailed the better."
"OK."
Soon, web pages automatically popped up on the computer, all of which were news reports about Cao Wei.
Sure enough, this is an Internet celebrity.
Upon closer inspection, it turns out that this father has a son with Menkes Syndrome.
Because there was no way to find medicine, Cao Wei, a high school graduate, made a crazy decision to save his son who suffered from a rare disease - to build his own laboratory and make his own medicine. This attracted great attention and became a hit.
Menkes syndrome, which Cao Wei's son Cao Yang suffers from, is an extremely rare genetic disease. There are only a few dozen patients in China.
This disease is mostly seen in boys and was named after Menkes who first reported it in 1962.
Due to the mutation of the atp7a gene on the patient's X chromosome, the body is unable to absorb copper ions, seriously affecting normal development. Women usually do not suffer from the disease because they have two X chromosomes.
Children with menkes syndrome will suffer from a series of symptoms such as growth retardation and degradation of physiological functions because their bodies cannot absorb copper ions. Eventually, one of the body's organs will fail first and life will end. Generally, the life span does not exceed 19 months.
Currently, the medical community has no effective cure for this rare disease. Internationally, copper histidine supplementation can be used as one of the treatments.
Abroad, this simple compound is often available in the form of nosocomial preparations.
Some doctors in China have tried to promote copper histidine as an in-hospital preparation, but due to the overall tightening of in-hospital reagents, cumbersome administrative approval procedures, stricter requirements for injections in children and other reasons, nothing has been done.
Therefore, a common choice for domestic parents is to go to hospitals in Baodao and Yingguo to get medicines.
But getting medicine across the border was not a long-term solution, so Cao Wei began to embark on the dangerous road of self-medication.
After untold hardships, he built a simple laboratory at home, taught himself medical knowledge, and finally succeeded in making medicine for his child and stabilizing his condition.
After this incident was reported by the media, it aroused heated discussion and attention across the country, and Cao Yang became an Internet celebrity.
Countless netizens were moved to tears by him and spontaneously followed the progress of his self-made medicine.
In addition, other parents of children with menkes are also keeping in touch with him, hoping to get more help.
After reading these news reports, Wei Kang had an idea.
This parent's deeds are truly amazing, and his perseverance is also touching.
Now that the other party has been able to make his own copper histidine preparation, the child's health has temporarily stabilized.
Presumably, I came here to persuade Sanqing to launch this generic drug so that other families of children with the disease can purchase it after it goes on the market.
After all, Cao Yang could only make his own medicine and could not sell it to other family members, otherwise it would be illegal.
The number of domestic children with menkes syndrome is too small, and copper histidine is a simple compound that has been around for a long time. No pharmaceutical company is willing to do such a thankless task of producing separate drugs for dozens of people.
Wei Kang decided to agree to the other party's request when they met later.
Because Sanqing’s generic drug department has always prioritized the development and production of generic drugs for rare diseases since its establishment.
So far, a series of generic drug product lines for rare diseases have been formed.
Although it does not make money, firstly, the technical content of generic drugs is not high, and the investment in R&D is limited. Secondly, the cost of raw materials is not high, and thirdly, the sales volume is not high. So in general, even if it loses money, the loss is limited, and it is a small business. Noisy.
Anyway, generic drugs for other popular diseases are still very popular, enough to cover the cost of subsidies.
In short, the field of rare diseases is originally about losing money and making money, and its significance outweighs its benefits.
Valley
Therefore, even adding a copper histidine preparation is nothing to Sanqing.
How much money can be lost to the needs of dozens of people every year?
Just think of it as charity.
As for the reasons that plague hospitals in manufacturing in-hospital preparations, such as cumbersome administrative approvals and strict manufacturing requirements, these factors do not exist for Sanqing.
With his mind made up, Wei Kang got up and walked to the conference room to meet his father, the 'God of Medicine'.
To be honest, he was somewhat impressed that a person with a high school degree could be self-taught and make simple medicines.
This is also the main reason why he is willing to meet the other party to help.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw a man of about thirty years old with a medium build and good appearance standing up with an anxious look on his face.
"Hello, Cao Yang, fortunately, I am Wei Kang." Wei Kang smiled and stretched out his hand.
"Don't be nervous, I just read your story online and I really admire you!"
"If you have any requests, please feel free to ask. I will do my best to help if I can."
After saying this, the uneasiness on the face of the man opposite disappeared.
His demeanor returned to his natural state and his expression became calm.
Cao Yang smiled and expressed his gratitude: "Mr. Wei, thank you very much for the interview. I am really touched that a busy person like you can take the time to meet with me. You are indeed a conscientious entrepreneur legendary on the Internet. My visit is not in vain. It is really It’s worth it.”
He thought for a few seconds and considered his words before speaking. His voice was neither fast nor slow, and his words were clear and calm.
"That's right. Since you already have a certain understanding, Mr. Wei, I'll keep the story short."
"I came here this time to ask for help from experts in Sanqing Medicine to completely cure my child."
"You must have some understanding of Menkes Syndrome. Currently, there is no cure for this disease in China. Overseas, you can only purchase some in-hospital preparations of copper histidine, which is very troublesome and not a long-term solution."
"Although I can make my own medicine, firstly, this medicine can only alleviate the condition but cannot cure it. Secondly, I have some patients with this disease, and their children also have this disease, and they also have no way to seek medicine."
"It is impossible for them to make their own medicine like me. This is unrealistic and too demanding."
"I saw on the Internet that Sanqing tried its best to support patients with rare diseases and produced many generic drugs, which saved many lives. From then on, I had this idea, but it was delayed because of my child's disease. a period of time."
"I was really excited when I saw the launch of SMA gene medicine a few days ago. It seemed like I saw a glimmer of hope that patients with rare diseases could be completely cured, so I couldn't wait to come here."
"Please also ask President Wei to consider helping our dozens of poor families of menkes patients."
Speaking of the latter, Cao Yang clasped his hands and looked over expectantly.
Wei Kang smiled slightly: "Do you want Sanqing to develop copper histidine preparations? That's no problem."
"Copper histidine is a very simple compound, and its patent has expired long ago. Sanqing has already made great achievements in the field of generic drugs for rare diseases, so this is nothing to us."
"And the country also has preferential policies. As long as you take the green channel for rare diseases, I believe it will be on the market within three months. Dozens of you patients will soon be able to buy the medicine through normal channels. You can even participate from the beginning Clinically, this way there will be no shortage of medicines from beginning to end.”
Cao Yang had complicated eyes and shook his head slowly.
"Mr. Wei, you may have misunderstood me."
"Actually, I didn't come here to ask Sanqing to manufacture a copy of copper histidine. Although this drug does alleviate the child's condition, it is not a complete solution."
"I know very well that the ultimate treatment for diseases caused by genetic mutations must be gene therapy, and currently the only pharmaceutical company in China that is the most powerful in gene therapy and can develop clinically usable genetic drugs is Sanqing."
"So," he said in a sincere tone and looked at Wei Kang with a longing look on his face: "This time I am here to ask for help from the gene therapy experts at Sanqing to develop a genetic drug that can completely cure menkes disease."
"This?" Wei Kang was completely shocked.
