High blood lipids are the main risk factors for atherosclerosis, and as we age, many people will face elevated blood lipids and cardiovascular health risks.
In recent years, in addition to classic statins, some new lipid-lowering drugs have emerged in addition to classic statins, so that patients with hyperlipidemia have more drug options besides statins, among which some new drugs with PCSK9 as the target have attracted the attention of many patients with hyperlipidemia.
In August 2023, a new type of PCSK9 inhibitor drug, Inksland Injection, was approved for marketing in China, which only needs 3 injections in the first year, and one injection every six months after that, which can achieve a stronger lipid-lowering effect than high-intensity statins, and also has a clear cardiovascular protective effect, which is a very efficient and convenient lipid-lowering injection drug.
However, at the same time, as a new type of newly approved drug preparation, its price is really high, according to the current pricing, the price of the drug per injection is 9988 yuan, and it has not yet entered the medical insurance, which is a completely self-paid drug. Judging from the current situation of drug use in China, the drug economy of this drug is really not high, and many analysts also believe that the market prospect of the drug will not be very good before it is included in the medical insurance.
But the reality doesn't seem to be the case. According to the conference call of Novartis' first quarterly report, in the first quarter of 2024, the number of new patients using Inksland injection will exceed 250 per day, that is to say, if calculated in 90 days, the number of new users of Inksland in the first quarter will exceed 22,000, which not only exceeds the expectations of market analysts, but also exceeds the sales expectations of manufacturers.
Such data makes us have to sigh that it is really poverty that limits our imagination, even in terms of drug use, the group with the ability to pay for high-priced drugs, as well as the demand for drugs, have greatly increased the market share and market expectations of these high-priced innovative drugs.
Why is Inksland so expensive, and why is it so popular?
Statins lower blood lipids by inhibiting cholesterol synthesis in the liver, thereby reducing total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, while in recent years, new PCSK9 inhibitors, their mechanism of action is different, if statins are the "source" of inhibiting blood lipids PCSK9 inhibitors are a class of drugs that work from the way out, and these drugs inhibit the degradation of low-density lipoprotein receptors by PCSK9, thereby increasing the level of low-density lipoprotein receptors in the human body, enhancing its binding to low-density lipoproteins, and promoting its liver breakdown.
At present, the mechanism of action of PCSK9 inhibitors on the market is divided into two categories, one is to play a role by preventing the combination of PCSK9 and low-density lipoprotein receptors, and many friends are familiar with elocumab, alixirumab, tolecimab and other monoclonal antibody drugs, all of which belong to this category, while the other is to interfere with the secretion of PCSK9 or prevent the production of PCSK9。
Its unique mechanism of action also determines its excellent long-term effect and good lipid-lowering effect. Patients who choose Inkslane need to be injected with an enhanced injection 3 months after the first injection, and the follow-up needs to be injected twice a year to achieve long-term stable control of blood lipids, and in terms of lipid lowering effect, a number of clinical research data show that the use of Inksland injection can reduce LDL cholesterol levels by an average of 54% Either in combination with statins or in patients who are completely intolerant to statins, the drug alone has greatly improved the rate of blood lipid attainment and brought more cardiovascular protection.
In terms of drug safety, compared with the risk of adverse reactions such as increased aminotransferases and muscle pain that may occur with statins, Inksland injection is also excellent in terms of safety, and in a 4-year follow-up study, the most common adverse reaction in patients using Inksland is adverse events at the injection site, and the probability of serious adverse reactions is only 1%.
The new drug dosage form and mechanism of action, ultra-long-term action time, good lipid-lowering effect and safety are all important reasons for the high price of the drug after marketing. For some patients who are intolerant to statins, or whose tolerable dose of statins does not meet the blood lipid standard, if their own economic conditions allow, it is of course completely okay to choose drugs like Inksland to improve blood lipid control.
Of course, for us ordinary people, the price of 30,000 yuan in the first year and 20,000 yuan per year after that, I believe most people are still unaffordable.
The answer, of course, is yes. Statins are still the first choice for controlling blood lipids and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, and with the blessing of centralized drug procurement, the drug economy and accessibility of statins have been further improved, taking atorvastatin, the most commonly used in clinical practice, as an example, the price of statins after centralized collection does not exceed 2 cents per tablet, and the monthly drug cost of patients generally does not exceed 20 yuan, which can be said to be very cheap.
For patients who cannot effectively control blood lipids to the target level after taking a tolerated dose of statins, such as some patients with familial hypercholesterolemia, and a small number of patients who are completely intolerant to statins, they can consider the combination of PCSK9 inhibitors。
Different drugs, their R & D costs, market competition, policy impact, etc., all determine the different prices of drugs, and for the drug population, combined with their own actual situation, choose the body tolerated, ensure the safety of the drug, and can actively control the blood lipid standard of reasonable drugs, sometimes different consumption capacity, may affect the category of drugs used, but in terms of protecting health, the role of drugs is no difference, reasonable selection of their own economic performance to withstand the drug, control their own relevant indicators to meet the standard steadily, than to seek new and expensive more important。