I can extract side effects.

Chapter 170 Huge Controversy, Amazing Curative Effect

In this world, there is no topic that is more controversial and arouses public sentiment than the gap between the rich and the poor.

Especially after Novartis CEO's remarks about sky-high prices broke out, it caused a thousand waves with one stone.

The CEO countered critics by comparing the cost of an organ transplant in Eagle Country.

"Transplantation in Eagle Country often costs 300 to 500 million US dollars, which is much higher than a dose of genetic medicine, but when it comes to curative effect, it may not be as guaranteed as genetic medicine for disease improvement (such as transplant failure, etc.). Should everyone Isn't it about how the medical system works?"

After these words were disseminated on the Internet by the domestic media, there was a wave of boycott of imported medicines and support for domestic medicines.

"Hehe, the high cost of medicine in Eagle Country is their problem. Don't even try to sell high-priced medicine in Huaxia."

"In a society where an ambulance costs $3000, of course it will take the $200 million cost of medicine for granted. Hehe, how can it show how bright the beacon of capitalism is if it is not expensive?"

"Fortunately, our country provides medical care at public expense, and the country can reimburse most of it. Thanks to the country, it is my happiness to be born in China."

"Yeah, as far as medical care is concerned, Eagle Country is definitely in hell mode. If you don't have a good pregnancy and get seriously ill, it's better to just scrap your account and start over."

"This CEO's face is really hateful. They have bought more than 9 million US dollars of this drug from Novartis since it was launched, and they have already paid back the cost. Do you plan to sell it for 200 million US dollars per injection for more than ten years?"

"If there is no competing product, of course we will continue to sell it at sky-high prices. How can capitalists think too much money? Even if they don't sell it to the poor, they will never sell it to you for a dime cheaper."

"If the milk can't be sold, it will be thrown away. This kind of medicine with a huge investment will be sold to you cheaply. It's a good idea."

"I hope Sanqing's medicine will be on the market soon. Even if it is a little more expensive, it is definitely not 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 is best to allow pharmaceutical companies to make money and patients to receive treatment. That would be great."

Since ancient science fiction, people have been using their imaginations to describe one society after another with extreme opposition between the rich and the poor.

There are the 'end-of-life' who are familiar to the public, and the 'cyberpunk' world of high-tech and low-life.

In these future worlds, the rich and consortia control everything, and the people at the bottom have nothing, so they can only sell what they have for meager resources to survive.

Even natural resources such as air and water are seized by the upper echelons to squeeze 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.

Not only that, but in terms of genetic evolution, there is also a popular saying that 'the rich rely on technology, and the poor rely on mutation'.

People naturally have a kind of fear and worry about these possible phenomena.

People abroad may have become numb to the gap between the rich and the poor in their lives, and they are not surprised. Some people still think that this is the law of social operation and the eternal truth of the universe.

But in China, this is an unbearable phenomenon. Every time the extravagant life of the rich comes out, they will be condemned and scolded by the public. Under the iron fist of the people, the rich have learned to behave in a low-key manner. Try to avoid provoking public outrage.

And people in this country are used to this kind of socialist political correctness.

Not to mention medical care, patients in Huaxia enjoy the most favorable medical treatment in the world.

Even if it is an epidemic infectious disease like SARS, domestic patients basically receive free medical treatment.

The top free medical treatment, besides Huaxia, which other country's people can have it.

Go to the ICU when it’s time to go to the ICU. It doesn’t matter how much it costs, as long as it can save people. There are many cases where people were saved after spending millions.

But 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 has to pay for it all out of pocket, which is very expensive and outrageously expensive. Even if there is insurance to pay the bulk, even 10% of the out-of-pocket expenses, most people cannot afford it.

In a country where ambulances cost thousands of dollars, the cost of severe hospitalization is sky-high.

Sanqing’s anti-cancer drugs cost as much as US$10 in Eagle Country. It is quite normal for a patient to suffer from cancer and go bankrupt after successive treatments.

This is also the reason why painkillers are so popular in Eagle Country, just take a painkiller for nothing serious, relieve the pain, and go on with your life.

That's why Huaxia's medical insurance is so keen on centralized procurement, trying to drive down the price of medicines as much as possible.

Anyway, Huaxia has a large population and a large number of patients. If the sales volume of pharmaceutical companies is greatly increased and the price is greatly reduced, it is a strategy of small profits but quick turnover, which is not unacceptable.

But the situation of rare diseases is different. Although there are many types of diseases, most of which are genetic diseases, there are not many patients for each type of disease alone.

The incidence of SMA is about one in 6000 to 10000.

Based on this estimate, Huaxia may have 20000 to 30000 patients.

If pharmaceutical companies develop new drugs for each disease independently, the cost will naturally be high.

Even if there are medicines available, family income has become a major problem in the face of rare diseases. It is only a drop in the bucket, and "sky-high priced medicines" have become a helpless problem that many patients and their families cannot avoid.

There are more than 3 million patients with rare diseases worldwide, 50% of whom are children.

There are about 2000 million patients with rare diseases in China.

In terms of total volume, this is actually a huge market.

You know, there are more than 7000 rare diseases known in the world, 80% of which are genetic diseases.

If a mature and convenient gene technology can be used for gene therapy, the problem of high treatment costs may be alleviated.

How to make the sky-high priced medicine become a life-saving medicine will become a social problem that needs to be solved urgently in front of Huaxia medical experts.

******
Over time, 30 patients in the first clinical phase received intravenous injections of the gene drug.

The children ranged in age from 6 months to 4 years, and all had severe SMA.

After receiving treatment, the researchers of Sanqing will follow up their daily progress of the disease 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 the parents.

It takes a long time for the lentiviral vector to take effect, especially for infecting neuronal cells with slow metabolism, which takes about 2-3 days.

The parents waited anxiously in the ward, fidgeting one by one.

Finally, a girl lying on the hospital bed slowly raised her hand and took off the ventilator.

She blushed, took a big gulp of fresh air, and her chest kept heaving.

This is 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, didn't speak, and spit out a few mouthfuls of mucus with a hoo hoo sound in her mouth.

Chen Jianfeng took out a tissue to catch it, threw it in the trash can, and looked at his daughter with concern.

The little girl coughed a few more times, feeling better. She looked up at him, her mouth squirmed, and she spit out a word.

"father!"

Chen Jianfeng burst into tears immediately, almost crying out.

He grabbed his daughter's hand and kept asking questions.

"Do you feel better? Can you breathe? Do you have strength?"

The daughter nodded and spoke inarticulately: "Father, I can breathe now. I seem to have some strength."

At this time, Chen Jianfeng was surrounded by other parents.

Everyone exclaimed and congratulated him in unison.

Within a few minutes, the doctor also rushed into the ward, and after an examination, he was pleasantly surprised: "Great, the child can breathe on his own, and his upper limbs have regained strength, which shows that the motor neuron protein in the body is increasing. "

"Come on, drink this glass of water and have a look."

Watching Nini drink the water, she made a few more movements, and finally even lifted herself up with some difficulty, half lying on the upright pillow.

Everyone present had joy on their faces.

The doctor also looked relieved: "Very well, her respiratory system is recovering very well now, and the next step is the recovery of her whole body muscles. She should be able to sit up in two days, and it is estimated that she will be able to stand against the wall this week. This kind of progress is really good. Amazing."

"I have never seen such a miraculous drug. The development of technology is too 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.

On the second day, most of them recovered their ability to breathe and swallow, and were able to eat independently.

All this makes the parents overjoyed.

Bigger surprises lie ahead.

Three days later, the children could sit up, and some babies who were too young could also 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 by themselves and stand against the wall for a long time.

Several babies were tired from sitting and playing for a while, and fell on the bed. They have recovered to playing for a day without being tired.

The children also ate more, their bodies grew flesh, and their complexions returned to the rosy color of red apples.

The effectiveness of gene medicine has been verified, and we will continue to pay attention to it for a period of time to verify its safety.

The laboratory test report also came out. Among various somatic cell types, the gene level of normal SMN1 from gene therapy increased significantly, and the level of SMA protein also reached the standard of normal people.

The results are encouraging and demonstrate the great success of the clinical trial.

After two weeks, all 30 children had recovered and were discharged from the hospital.

They only need to come to the hospital for review every week in the future.

After a period of time, if the safety results are reassuring, you can review it again in a few months.

Although the design of the lentiviral vector used by Sanqing has been optimized, some genetic insulators are used to block the activation of adjacent genes, making it safer, but it is necessary to continue to follow up to avoid any long-term side effects, such as possible pre-cancer Signs of cell proliferation.

The parents were elated, left their contact information one after another, and left with their recovered children.

Chen Jianfeng walked out of the hospital gate and couldn't help looking back.

In his eyes, the eight characters of 'Kun City No.1 People's Hospital' faintly shone with a layer of holy golden light.

This clinical trial drug is free, but the hospitalization fee and examination fee have to be paid by the patient himself. After reimbursement by the medical insurance, it costs about a few thousand yuan, but in exchange for two newborn children.

To him, this experience was like a sweet dream. It wasn't until he walked out of the hospital that he realized that the fate of the whole family had completely changed.

"Old Chen, we drove here, let's go back to Hangzhou together."

A few acquaintances came behind him, all from Hangzhou in the patient group, and greeted him warmly.

These parents have been together for half a month and have established a deep friendship with each other.

Chen Jianfeng smiled honestly, nodded, pulled the two children, and followed closely behind.

Soon, the photos of the first batch of clinical trial patients recovering were posted by the parents in the group of patients they knew.

Photos of healthy children playing.

Like torpedoes, they exploded completely in the group.

All the parents couldn't sit still.

　The SARS here refers to the present you know.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)