China News Service, Guangzhou, March 27th (Cai Minjie, Zuo Jiaolei) On the 27th, the first injection of bucicizumab, an innovative drug for fundus diseases, was completed in Zhuhai Ximalin Shunchao Eye Hospital in mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Chai Hongliang, deputy director of the Zhuhai Municipal Health Bureau, said that through the Hong Kong-Macao drug-machine-link policy, the overseas advanced ophthalmic medical device technology and level can be more effectively connected in the future, so as to better benefit the people.
With the aging of the population and changes in lifestyle, age-related eye diseases and metabolic-related eye diseases have become increasingly prominent. Fundus diseases have become the main blinding eye diseases in my country, mostly occurring in people over 50 years old.
Lin Shunchao, chairman of Hong Kong Xima International Eye Medical Group, said that in China, more than half of blind patients are caused by fundus diseases, of which wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema are the most important factors. The current treatment pain points It is the inefficiency of effusion elimination, which results in patients needing to go back and forth to the hospital several times for treatment and still cannot obtain satisfactory results. Innovative therapeutic drugs are urgently needed in clinical practice.
Recently, Novartis (China) announced that a new generation of innovative drugs for the treatment of ocular fundus diseases, the smaller molecule Buccilizumab, has been approved for urgent clinical use in medical institutions in mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area.
According to the one-year results of a global multi-center clinical study that enrolled nearly 3,000 wet age-related macular degeneration patients, for patients with persistent effusion, the proportion of patients in the bucilizumab group who achieved a visual benefit of more than 15 letters at 24 weeks 61% higher than the control group.
"Bucilizumab has the characteristics of smaller molecular weight, earlier resolution of effusion, more effective vision improvement, and longer treatment intervals." Lin Shunchao said that compared with existing treatment methods, bucilizumab can be more effective Early absorption of intraretinal fluid/subretinal fluid, only one injection every 3 months after the loading period, has obvious advantages in continuous improvement of anatomy.
The "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Drug and Medical Device Supervision Innovation and Development Work Plan" proposes that designated medical institutions operating in 9 mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area use drugs that are urgently needed clinically and that have been marketed in Hong Kong and Macau, and that public hospitals in Hong Kong and Macau use urgently needed clinically. Procurement and use of medical devices with advanced clinical application.
This policy provides favorable policy support for residents of the Greater Bay Area and the whole country to seek medical treatment, and gradually provides patients with medical conditions that are similar to those in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau.
On August 27, 2021, the policy of "Hong Kong-Macao Medicine and Machinery Access" was expanded and implemented in the mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area. The first batch of 5 medical institutions will be established, including Zhuhai Xima Lin Shun Chao Eye Hospital.
"Many of our compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao work in mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area, and now they do not need to return to Hong Kong and Macao for treatment, which is very convenient. Mainland compatriots in need can also use this medicine." Lin Shunchao said that the hospital has established a Hong Kong and Macao pharmaceutical equipment expert group. Together with national fundus experts, we will collect real-world data from 100 patients who are unable to benefit from existing treatment methods after trying Buccilizumab, and discuss suitable treatment options for Chinese patients with fundus diseases.
Zhang Ying, President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals (China), said: "The implementation of the 'Hong Kong and Macau Pharmaceutical Machinery' policy has also provided impetus for multinational pharmaceutical companies to promote the introduction of innovative drugs." (End)