Sanxiang*** February 29 (Quan** reporter Li Qi) "After agamod is included in the medical insurance, the financial burden has been greatly reduced, so that we can use the new drug for the first time and can afford it for a long time!" "On February 28, at Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Zhao Xin (pseudonym), a 19-year-old patient with myasthenia gravis, received the second cycle of the innovative drug agamod**.
In Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Professor Yang Huan diagnosed and treated Zhao Xin (pseudonym), a patient with myasthenia gravis. Li Qi pictured).
From January 1, 2024, the new version of the National Medical Insurance Drug List will be implemented nationwide. The number of drugs for rare diseases included in the medical insurance catalogue has reached a record high, filling the gap in drug protection for 10 diseases. Some rare diseases that have not been effectively addressed for a long time, such as myasthenia gravis and Gaucher disease, are among them.
The World Health Organization defines rare diseases as the number of people who have a disease of 0 out of the total population065% to 01% between diseases or lesions. At present, there are more than 6,000 known rare diseases in the world, and there are about 20 million rare disease patients in China.
Zhao Xin is one of them, 3 years ago she was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, the initial symptoms were drooping eyelids, double vision, blurred, as the condition gradually worsened, there were symptoms of general weakness, even lifting arms, walking was very difficult, wrestling at every turn, and then developed to difficulty raising head, drinking water and choking, swallowing function was affected, unable to eat and drink normally. In severe cases, he also had difficulty breathing, and was hospitalized many times, and his life was in danger at any time.
Suffering from a serious illness at a flower-like age, Zhao Xin was very desperate for a while. After the implementation of the new medical insurance catalogue in January this year, under the advice of Professor Yang Huan, chief physician of the Department of Neurology and director of the subspecialty of neuroimmunology and neuromyopathy, she used the first cycle of innovative drug agamod, and the effect was very obvious.
I couldn't lift my legs before, but now I can trot, and eating is no longer affected, and I feel that there is hope in life again. Zhao Xin said with a smile that now he has started the second cycle of **, according to the doctor's preliminary estimate, there is hope to live like a normal person in the future.
Yang Huan introduced that there are about 170,000 patients with generalized myasthenia gravis in China, and the goal of such patients is to achieve the "double standard" state of minimizing disease symptoms and minimizing them. However, in the past, it was very difficult to achieve the goal of "double achievement", and patients needed to face various risks brought by traditional drugs, including liver and kidney toxicity, infection and long-term tumor risk.
Agamod is the first and only approved FCRN antagonist in China, which is used for patients with generalized myasthenia gravis who are positive for acetylcholine receptor (ACHR) antibody, and is expected to enable patients to achieve the ideal state of "double standard" with minimal disease symptoms and high standards and return to normal life.
Previously, this drug was expensive, with a cost of hundreds of thousands of yuan a year, which brought a huge financial burden to patients and their families. After being included in the medical insurance, Changsha residents can be reimbursed by 60-70%, and the financial burden of patients can be greatly reduced. Difficult medication and high drug prices have always been a "dilemma" for patients with rare diseases. In order to allow more "Zhao Xin" to be seen, all sectors of society are actively exploring the long-standing "last mile" obstacles to the use of drugs for patients with rare diseases.
At present, more than 80 rare disease drugs in China have been included in the list of national medical insurance drugs, bringing more gospel to more than 20 million rare disease patients, reducing the burden of medication, and not only making drugs available, but also affordable.