China鈥檚NationalCancerCentersaidlastyearinitsannualreportthatChinasaw4.29millionnewcasesofcancereveryyear,accountingfor20percentoftheworld鈥檚total;inaddition,cancerkills2.81millionpeopleeveryyearinChinaalone.However,cancerrequiresexpensiveandlong-termtreatment,whichmanyChinesefamiliescannotafford.Forexample,theaveragemonthlycostperpatientofosimertinib,amedicationforlungcancer,canamounttomorethan50,000yuan($7,330).
Asifthiswasnotenough,cumbersomeapprovalproceduresarealsoamajorboneofcontentionforafrustratedpublic.ChinaFoodandDrugAdministrationestimatesthatitcantakeuptoseveralmonthsbeforeapharmaceuticalcompanyispermittedtomarketamedicine.Therearealsoextremecases:Cervarix,avaccineusedtopreventcervicalcanceranddesignedbyGSK,wasapprovedin2009intheUnitedStates.However,theBritish-madevaccineonlyreceivedthegreenlightfromChinain2016.
Actionis,therefore,neededfromboththehealthauthoritiesandpharmaceuticalcompaniestoimproveaccesstothesedrugsandmakelifeeasierforpatients.
Cuttingredtape
TheChineseGovernment鈥檚reactionwasswiftfollowingthereleaseofthefilm.AccordingtothewebsiteofChina鈥檚StateCouncilonJuly18,ChinesePremierLiKeqianggavespecificinstructionsandurgedthedepartmentconcernedtostrengthenmeasurestoreducethepriceofcancerdrugsandensuretheirstablesupply.Infact,itisalreadythefourthtimesincethebeginningofthisyearthatthepremierhaspubliclyaddressedthisissue.
FollowingadecisiontakenataStateCouncilExecutiveMeetingchairedbyLiinApril,ChinabegantoeliminatetariffsonallimportedcancerdrugsasofMay1.Meanwhile,thevalue-addedtaxontheproductionandimportationofcancerdrugshasalsobeenloweredto3percent,comparedtotheprevious16percent.Accordingtoaroughestimate,thesetwomeasuresshouldresultina20-percentreductioninthepriceofcancerdrugs.
AuthoritiesarealsoseekingtonegotiatewithChineseandforeigndrugcompaniestolowerpricesbymakingcancerdrugsavailableformedicalinsurancereimbursement.Accordingtoindustryinsiders,evenifthepriceofdrugsisreduced,pharmaceuticalcompaniescanstillseetheirprofitsincreasearisingfrommoreaffordablepricesandimprovedsales.
Thefirstroundofnegotiationslaunchedin2017hasalreadyhelpedcutpricesbyanaverageof44percentfor15clinicallyeffectivebutexpensiveanti-cancerdrugs,suchastrastuzumab,rituximabandbortezomib.Thesedrugshavenowalsobeenlistedformedicalinsurancereimbursement.China鈥檚MinistryofHumanResourcesandSocialSecurityannouncedinJulythatithasopenedanewroundofnegotiationsforreducingdrugprices,whichshouldbecompletedbytheendofSeptember.
Meanwhile,Chinahastakenstepstoshortentheapprovaltimeforimportedcancerdrugs.Accordingtoofficialstatistics,theaverageapprovaltimeforimportedcancerdrugstobeavailableontheChinesemarketwas111dayslastyear,comparedto420daysin2014.Asproof,regorafenib,adrugforadvancedlivercancer,becamefullyavailableforChinesepatientsinMarch2017,justsevenmonthsafteritsapprovalintheUnitedStates.Previously,suchapprovalmighthavetakenfivetoeightyears.
Anewchapter
However,intheeyesofseveralindustryexperts,despitethegovernmentmeasures,thesemedicineswillonlybetrulyaffordableforpatientswhenthehighcostsofresearchanddevelopment(R&D)havebeenreduced.
Havingworkedfor12yearsinacoupleofinternationalpharmaceuticalcompanies,LiXingcouldnotagreemore.SheiswellawareoftheproblemsthatarepartofthetraditionalR&Dprocessofinnovativemedicines,which,accordingtoher,isstillatthelabor-intensivestage.
鈥淚ttakes10years,100scientistsworkingtogetherand$2.7billioninfinancingforadrugtobeclinicallyavailable,鈥漵hesaid.Eventhen,thesuccessrateisonly7percent,duetomanyreasons,oneofwhichisinformationasymmetryindecision-makingprocess.
Lihasbeenresearchingonartificialintelligence(AI)sinceearly2016.ShebelievesthattheapplicationofthisnewtechnologyintheR&Dprocessofinnovativedrugswillhaveadecisiveimpactontheavailabilityofcancermedications.Clinicaltrials,forexample,areakeystepthatrequiresalotoftimeandeffort.Indeed,whenclinicaltrialsproveunsuccessful,pharmaceuticalcompanieswillsufferhugeeconomiclosses.
Ontheotherhand,AIcanforeseecertainexperimentalresultsatanearlystage,thushelpingtoeliminateexperimentswhoserateoffailureisseenastoohigh,lookinginsteadformoreeffectiveandtargetedsolutionstoreducecosts,shesaid.Accordingtoherconservativeestimates,byusingAI,theR&Dprocesscouldbeshortenedbytwotothreeyears.
AsthepresidentandfounderofDeepIntelligentPharma,aglobalstartupdedicatedtoempoweringandacceleratingdrugdevelopmentthroughthemostadvancedAItechnologies,LihopesthattheChineseGovernmentwillbeabletoincreaseinvestmentinthisarea.
鈥淎IisdefinitelyahistoricopportunityforChinesepharmaceuticalcompanieswishingtoexpandinternationally,allthewhileclosingthegapwiththeirforeigncounterparts,鈥漵hesaid.
Forher,AI鈥檚mainadvantageresidesinthefactthatitisabletoassimilatetheworld鈥檚mostadvancedexperience,thussolvingtheproblemoflackofexperienceandmanpowerofChinesecompanies.
**Commentsto
111averagenumberofdaysforimportedcancerdrugstobeapprovedinChinain2017,comparedto420daysin2014
3%currentvalue-addedtaxonproductionandimportationofcancerdrugs,comparedto16percentbeforeMay1
0tariffsonallcancerdrugsimportedintoChinaasofMay1
ApplicationofAItechnologyintheR&Dprocessofinnovativedrugswillhaveadecisiveimpactontheavailabilityofcancermedications.
Medicineswillonlybetrulyaffordableforpatientswhenthehighcostsofresearchanddevelopmenthavebeenreduced.