Dr. Fan smiled bitterly: "Are you surprised? I am in this field and I know the cost of drug research and development... But I am surprised. I didn't expect it to be so expensive. What you are hearing now is probably the most expensive drug in the world.
.”
"And I'm afraid there are very few families in China who can use it. We have to climb at least four mountains..."
Fang Yi asked: "What four mountains?"
“First, pharmaceutical companies submit to the National Medical Products Administration for review; second, they are approved by the National Medical Products Administration and allowed to be marketed; third, they are repriced domestically; fourth, they are included in domestic medical insurance.”
Fang Yi and Liu Tianxian looked at each other, and the latter said: "Even if there are four big mountains, we can always overcome them gradually. Moreover, the price of medicines that are very expensive now may drop in a few years, and then we can really use them."
For the benefit of those patients.”
She looked at Fang Yi: "If the documentary we make is meaningful, then this is also one of the meanings of the documentary."
However, Dr. Fan shook his head: "Things are not that simple. Most of what you said is correct, but you failed to consider one thing...and this point is enough to overturn all the previous meanings."
The two stopped talking and waited for Dr. Fan to explain.
Dr. Fan: “Have you ever heard of ‘ALS’ before?”
Of course there is none.
"The chance of this disease occurring is one in 6,000 to one in 10,000. In China, there are about 1,500 new ALS patients recorded every year. So far,
So far, there are more than 30,000 people in total. Other potential patients could not be identified due to various reasons, or they passed away silently before they were identified."
"Therefore, not many pharmaceutical companies will conduct research and development for this disease, and they will not make much money at all. Naturally, it is impossible for patients to be cured - the prerequisite for them to be cured is that there are enough patients to share the cost. Unfortunately,
In fact they are a super minority."
Liu Tianxian asked: "Didn't you just say that there is a special medicine worth 13 million?"
"Yes, thirteen and a half million," he emphasized the number "fifty", because "fifty" is also an incredible number for ordinary people.
"——So, this medicine has no practical significance, so this disease is terminal."
Fang Yi: "I want to know, in the most extreme case...for example, if all registered ALS patients in the world buy the specific medicine you mentioned, what will its price be?"
Doctor Fan stretched out his fingers and gestured.
It's an eight.
"Eighty thousand?"
"Eight hundred thousand."
Then...it really has no practical significance.
Because the assumption that all patients buy it is inherently impossible.
It's a bit like the trolley problem. There are a thousand people on one side and one person on the other. The disease that comes out of nowhere is a runaway train, and you have to choose whether the train will kill a group of people or just one person.
As an individual, you can not make a choice, you can escape, you can argue for that person's value, and you can say some correct nonsense - because everyone's value is indeed worthy of respect.
This is correct.
But organizations cannot escape making choices, and if they make 10,000 choices, they will only choose one person.
Fang Yi became interested in this "dilemma" problem and later spent more time learning about this type of special medicine.
With the help of the organization, he quickly collected information, which was more thorough than what Dr. Fan had dictated to him.
It is true that Zolgensma is a specific drug that uses gene therapy to achieve excellent results, but it is still in the laboratory stage and has almost no commercial value.
Thirteen and a half million is the price of a tube of injections. What about the before and after care, the care?
Did you get up and jump around and go shopping for groceries after getting the injection?
Macau's Gambling King Ho was rumored to be suffering from brain cancer. He spent thousands of dollars to build a medical team for himself and developed an injection drug suitable for his symptoms. The manufacturing cost of each tube of drug is about 8 million.
In fact, when all the costs are added together, it will cost nearly 100 million Hong Kong dollars to get this injection.
Thirteen and a half million is just the ticket.
Now there is another specific drug nusinersen, which is called nusinersen sodium in Chinese.
Its effect is not as obvious as Zolgensma, but it can also alleviate the patient's symptoms. It is especially effective for children under two years old. Under good circumstances, it can make the children basically normal and get rid of the suffering of the disease when they enter teenagers.
Moreover, its price is very "low".
In some developed countries, there are plans to include nosinaxin sodium in the medical insurance list. For example, in the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Plan list, nosinaxin sodium was initially set at 41.3 Australian dollars, equivalent to RMB 185 per bottle, while the actual purchase price was 11
Ten thousand Australian dollars, equivalent to RMB 490,000.
The reason why such a huge subsidy can be provided is that there are only a few hundred ALS patients in Australia, which is equivalent to the government paying for the treatment of these people.
Even so, the Australian government only covers children under the age of two. If the condition does not improve beyond this age, it is a condition that requires lifelong injections. The patient can only hope that he is rich enough.
Considering the current economic development situation in the country, it is impossible for Noxinasin Sodium to be included in the medical insurance.
The medical insurance pool is limited, and you cannot give up a thousand others just to save one person.
So, can individuals purchase specific commercial insurance?
An American company had indeed done this before, but the result was that a bunch of patients who were not originally registered suddenly appeared to be insured, causing the total compensation amount to quickly penetrate the insurance pool. Since then, no insurance company has dared to provide such insurance.
This is indeed a terminal disease, and all hope for it is almost zero.
The discussion on the topic of "ALS" was still ongoing until Fang Yi returned to the capital.
As a director, he is keenly aware that this may be a disease with dramatic power. Looking at it two or three years later, it may be a good movie adaptation.
Liu Tianxian gave him an idea: "For example, take a picture of a person suffering from ALS, from survival to death."
He objected: "There is no story."
Liu Tianxian: "What kind of story can such a disease have? If it is adapted one day, it should only be aimed at winning awards. No one will watch this kind of film."
Fang Yi shook his head, "It depends on man-made things. If there are factors that attract people to watch, people will naturally watch."
Liu Tianxian sensed his seriousness and said in surprise: "You don't really want to take the photo, do you?"
"No, not now."
——————
After Guo Fan, the assistant director of "Seventeen Again", took care of a lot of chores, he made an appointment with Fang Yi to make a report. The weather in the capital that day was excellent, and it was also like his future. The sky was clear and blue.
Boundless as far as the eye can see.
He stood under the building rented by the studio for a while, came up from the underground garage, and met Fang Yi's luxurious Rolls-Royce.
He circled around the glazed car logo several times.
"Can that be used instead?"
Or "This is what a man should do?"
At the moment, Guo Fan didn't dare to say a word, but he still thought about it in his dreams.