Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 343: Is it a life-saving medicine or a life-killing medicine?

The price negotiations between Xiluokeda, a highly-anticipated drug under Galaxy Pharmaceuticals, and medical insurance have attracted a lot of attention even before they officially started.

On the day of the negotiations, countless people were asking for relevant information, but this time the negotiations were non-public, so people could not know the details.

In fact, this negotiation is very complicated. It is not just a simple price negotiation, but also includes indications and scope of use.

Although clinical trials have proven that Xirokeda has considerable efficacy against a variety of cancers, considering the unknown risks, Xirokeda currently on the market is actually only an emergency drug that can only be used in patients with 16 types of cancer who are in critical condition.

This drug cannot actually be used for other types of cancer, even those that are not life-threatening.

For example, in the early stages of cancer, if the patient wants to use this medicine, it cannot be prescribed, even if the patient pays for it themselves... The unknown risks are too great, and no one knows what problems may arise.

There are some cancers other than the sixteen types of cancer. Although some cancers have shown certain therapeutic effects during the trial, more trials are still needed to be confirmed, so it is impossible to use Xiluokeda for patients with these cancers.

Therefore, this negotiation is also based on this point.

The negotiations between the two parties lasted about three days...Behind the negotiators on both sides was a group of accountants performing various complex calculations.

This is actually quite different from regular drug negotiations.

After three days of negotiations, the two sides reached a consensus that the medical insurance price of Xiluokeda for collection would be 100,000 yuan per course of treatment.

The reason why Galaxy Pharmaceuticals agreed to this price is mainly because there are a huge number of cancer patients in China, with millions of new cancer patients every year. If the cancer is included in the medical insurance, the burden on patients will be greatly reduced, and sales will increase significantly.

In the final analysis, Galaxy Pharmaceuticals' profit will not be less, and may even be more.

The main reason why the medical insurance department agreed to this price is that this drug is currently under emergency approval and is limited to 16 life-threatening cancer indications. In other words, the scope of use is actually limited at present, and overall medical insurance expenditures can be controlled within a certain range.

At the same time, there is another important reason. After being diagnosed with cancer, medical insurance patients, even if they do not take Xiluokeda, will adopt other treatment options, such as surgery, other anti-cancer drugs covered by medical insurance, chemotherapy and other treatment methods. Each of these is not cheap, and these medical insurance expenses are actually very large.

However, after medical insurance patients take Xiluokeda, these medical insurance expenses can be saved.

In other words, although medical insurance expenditures have increased, the amount of increase will not be too large and is controllable.

After reaching an agreement on the price, the two parties held a press conference and officially announced the relevant news to the public.

This immediately sparked a heated discussion.

"The miraculous anti-cancer drug Xiluokeda has been officially included in the medical insurance!"

"Is a box of Xiluokeda, which costs 100,000 yuan, a life-saving drug or a life-killing drug?"

"Xilokda officially announced that its pharmaceutical factory has completed preparations for expansion and entered the mass production stage. The domestic supply of Xilokda is expected to be eased!"

"What do you think of Xiluokeda being included in medical insurance? Is the price of 100,000 yuan too expensive?"

The media chased for traffic and reported extensively, and ordinary netizens also participated in it in large numbers.

However, for many patients and their families, Galaxy Pharmaceutical's Xiluokeda has been officially included in the medical insurance, which makes countless cancer patients very happy. Even if they still have to spend money on treatment, they see hope.

At the same time, more people are beginning to hope that Galaxy can complete the second and third phase clinical trials as soon as possible and expand the scope of use, rather than strictly limiting the scope of use as it is now.

What people want to see is a wide range of applications for all types of cancer, early detection and early treatment, so that the patient can be cured and go home.

Instead of just being used as it is now, it can only be used for critically ill patients as a life-saving drug as an emergency plan.

However, we must not be careless in the use of drugs, and clinical trials must continue. However, large-scale application is impossible before the clinical trials are completed.

Under such circumstances, Galaxy Pharmaceuticals has also accelerated clinical trials and officially announced that it will launch the second phase of clinical trials in the near future and expects to launch the third phase of clinical trials in three months.

By next year, the phase III clinical trial will be completed, although there will also be a phase IV clinical trial stage, which is also the stage for formal market launch and sales.

As of now, the drug can only be used in emergency situations.

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Xu Shenxue has also been paying attention to Xirokeda's situation recently. After the negotiations were over, a public welfare medical fund project under Xu Shenxue was announced to the public that a new charity project would be launched to provide part of the donations to cancer patients from poor families.

Naturally, this donation is limited to Xiluokeda's drug expenses, which is the expenses after medical insurance reimbursement, and it is also limited to poor families... Really poor families, those with an annual income of no more than 50,000 yuan, no liquid assets, and are desperate.

China was the first to include Xiluokeda in the emergency license, allowing limited marketing and sales, and also included it in medical insurance... Even though there are still many restrictions, this is still a major move that will enable many advanced cancer patients from ordinary families to receive treatment.

Now, the pressure has shifted to many overseas countries.

The US FDA is under a lot of pressure. Many cancer patients and their families petition the agency every day. At the same time, many anti-cancer drug companies are also putting pressure on the agency...not allowing Xilokeda to be launched so early.

These pharmaceutical companies also have anti-cancer drugs, which are now severely impacted by Xiluo Keda. If Xiluo Keda cannot be launched in the market in a short time, they can still take over part of the market and make as much money as possible.

Once Xiluokeda is put on the market, the financial losses will be huge.

The FDA, which is under double pressure, also has its own concerns... What if something goes wrong if emergency approval is granted?
Galaxy Pharmaceutical is a Chinese pharmaceutical company, not one of our own. There is no need to risk one's own future to protect it.

So, the FDA is playing blind. You can go to Galaxy Pharmaceuticals and try medical tourism. A lot of rich people do that.

Some American patients who still have money in their pockets but not enough to afford medical tourism services grit their teeth and fly directly to China for medical treatment.

They received medical treatment at Huaxia Hospital and purchased Xiluokeda at their own expense, which was tens of thousands of dollars they could afford.

Chinese hospitals are also happy to accept these overseas patients. As long as they meet the medical conditions, such as advanced cancer and within the sixteen indications, they will prescribe medicine. In any case, all expenses are borne by the patients themselves.

This situation has also attracted the attention of some overseas insurance companies, and many overseas insurance companies have subsequently announced that they will include Xiluokeda in the scope of medical insurance reimbursement...

This is certainly not because these insurance companies are doing good deeds, but because many of their customers have already been diagnosed with cancer and are currently undergoing various treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy, and other expensive drugs.

Especially for patients with medical insurance in some developed countries, who have comprehensive insurance, they use all kinds of expensive drugs and undergo surgeries to treat cancer.

The cost of treatment for these customers is also a heavy burden for insurance companies.

So these insurance companies also want to find cheaper alternatives... to save money.

Xiluokeda is a very good alternative. Although the drug seems expensive, it is not much more expensive than other treatments, and may even be cheaper.

Therefore, insurance companies actually hope that their customers can go to Huaxia for treatment and use Xiluokeda to save money.

The price is only 150,000 yuan. For many overseas insurance companies, there is no pressure to reimburse the full amount... After all, it is cheaper than other treatment methods in their own country.

Of course, it would be better if Xiluokeda could be sold in their own country at a more reasonable price.

After all, going to China for treatment requires not only the cost of medicines, but also many other expenses. For non-local patients, there is no medical insurance agency to monitor them. Chinese hospitals will not show mercy when wielding the sickle against these overseas patients, and the prices are also very outrageous!
Who told you to run all the way there to get slaughtered?
You might think that the medicine cost for a course of treatment is only 150,000 yuan, but in fact, it is followed by a long list of treatments and examinations.

After all, it is an emergency drug license, so shouldn’t doctors be more cautious when prescribing the drugs?

We will arrange a supreme super VIP ward for you, and all kinds of examinations that can be arranged for you will be arranged for you. If those that cannot be arranged, we will create conditions to arrange them for you, and then we will prescribe medicines for overseas patients only after ensuring that there are no risks.

Even after prescribing this medicine, you need to do various checks every day and monitor it closely. After all, it is an emergency medication, so you have to be careful!

And this - it's all money!

Overseas insurance companies naturally want to save as much as possible... Once they return to their own country, they will have much better control and can significantly suppress all kinds of miscellaneous expenses.

But... now when I take my clients overseas for treatment, naturally, a child away from home is worse than grass, and I can only be cheated.

But even so, it is cheaper than messing around in the country and it is still profitable, so overseas insurance companies are still doing this for the time being.

Then I hope to get the drug on my own turf soon.

However, no other country has granted emergency approval for Xiluokeda yet, so Xiluokeda's overseas launch will have to wait a little longer.

At the same time, overseas pricing also needs to be different according to the conditions of each overseas country, and then price negotiations must be conducted with overseas medical insurance institutions or insurance companies.

However, considering the large patient base, the price of this drug overseas will not be too expensive. It will definitely be more expensive than in China, but not to an exaggerated level.

Seeing this, I wonder if you have noticed that the drug Xiluokeda, as well as some other high-priced drugs, seem to be used by patients, but the main force paying for it is not the patients, but some medical insurance institutions or insurance companies.

Therefore, the price is not a game between Galaxy Pharmaceuticals and patients, but a game between Galaxy Pharmaceuticals and medical insurance agencies or insurance companies.

The price is too high, and when the insurance companies do the math, they realize that instead of making money, they will lose money, so they won’t bother with the pharmaceutical companies.

Even if the price is lower, Galaxy Pharmaceuticals will also suffer a loss... R&D costs, clinical costs, operating costs, and the costs of developing other new drugs are very expensive.

Therefore, the price game for new drugs is very complicated and difficult to generalize.

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After paying attention to the situation of the drug Xiluokeda for a while, Xu Shenxue saw that the domestic situation was basically stable, so he stopped paying much attention to it.

As for the situation overseas, we will conduct clinical trials step by step and then put the product on the market for sale.

He has been busy with semiconductor matters recently. ASML had previously delayed the delivery of lithography machines. Although they were resent later, Xu Shenxue was still very vigilant.

To this end, we have also increased investment in domestic semiconductor equipment and consumables with lithography machines as the core.

After increasing investment, the R&D staff worked overtime and finally produced the first mass production prototype HDUV-600 in early June, four months ahead of schedule.

This is an advanced lithography machine that can meet quadruple exposure and can theoretically produce chips equivalent to seven-nanometer process.

After seeing this lithography machine, Xu Shenxue felt a lot more relieved. Now he was in the mood to tinker with this year's new S series mobile phones, as well as the first VR glasses expected to be released this year!

This kind of VR glasses is very different from the existing VR glasses on the market!

(End of this chapter)