Zhou Hong, General Manager of Shanghai Roche Pharmaceutical: I have three "Chinese Dreams"

Beijing, August 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Recently, the first melanoma-targeted new drug Zobovo was listed in China, promoting China's melanoma treatment into the targeted era. Although it is 6 years later than the United States, Zhou Hong, general manager of Shanghai Roche Pharmaceutical, said in an interview with Xinhua Network that the time Zoboro was approved by the State Food and Drug Administration to accelerate the approval and be listed two years in advance, it is still very exciting, "I have three 'Chinese dreams', the first is the global synchronous listing of new drugs in China, this dream is about to be realized." ”

Zhou Hong, General Manager of Shanghai Roche Pharmaceutical

The first "dream": the global launch of new drugs in China

Melanoma, known as the "king of cancer", is a malignant tumor derived from melanocytes, with high mortality, high metastasis rate and difficult treatment.

The incidence of melanoma in China is 0.6 per 100,000, which is a rare disease. In recent years, the incidence of melanoma has shown an upward trend. Different from Western countries, the special type of melanoma that occurs frequently in China has a higher degree of malignancy. About 26% of patients with Chinese melanoma have braf gene mutations, and patients with braf mutations after metastases have an average survival of only 3-4 months. The world's first targeted new drug, Zobofur (vemurafenib), developed by Roche Pharma for the treatment of brafv600 mutation-positive inoperable resection or metastatic melanoma, will significantly improve the survival benefits of patients after it is launched in China.

However, as a rare disease, the incidence of melanoma in China is generally low, which means that Zobov may not bring high sales revenue to Roche.

In this regard, Zhou Hong said that Roche's mission is to "do what patients need first". "This has two meanings, one is that the patient comes first, and the other is that following the science, Zobov's treatment of melanoma is a major discovery. Although the incidence of a disease is very low and the number of patients is small, it does not mean that this is not the direction we should strive for. Therefore, for innovative drugs such as Zobov, Roche globally is actively promoted. Zhou Hong revealed that in Roche's global innovative drug product line, meko inhibitors (cobimetinib) and pdl1 monoclonal antibodies (atezolizumab) are also being accelerated for melanoma treatment.

"In the past two years, the state has made a lot of efforts to accelerate the entry of innovative drugs into China and improve the quality of imitation products. I am full of confidence in the first dream of 'new drugs are listed in China at the same time', so that Chinese patients can use the world's new drugs for the first time. Zhou Hong said.

The second "dream": to create more drugs in China that benefit patients around the world

Zhou Hong introduced that as one of the earliest multinational enterprises to enter China 20 years ago, Roche took the lead in building a complete pharmaceutical value industry chain in China, including research, development, production, marketing and other links. At present, Roche's two drugs, the classic immunosuppressant Xiao Xi, and the oral chemotherapy drug Siroda have been manufactured in China and supplied to the world.

"But I hope that one day, not only made in China, but also in China, more drugs can be created that benefit patients around the world, develop drugs from China, complete clinical trials in China, and market globally, which is my second dream." Zhou Hong said.

Roche's Shanghai Innovation Center, which roche is currently building, is accelerating her dream. At the end of 2015, Roche launched the Shanghai Innovation Center project, with a total investment of 863 million yuan, which is expected to be completed in 2019 and will have 220 modular workspaces, which is an important milestone for Roche to build Shanghai into the third strategic center after the global headquarters Basel and San Francisco. In the future, the innovation center will focus on research and early development of innovative drugs in the fields of immune, inflammatory and anti-infectious diseases, with a view to continuously meeting the outstanding needs of patients in China and around the world.

Zhou Hong said that roche Shanghai Innovation Center will promote cooperation between Roche and local research institutions, while attracting the world's top research talents to China. "Our goal is to develop excellent and innovative medicines for patients in Asia and around the world and to reinforce our long-term commitment to R&D in China." Zhou Hong said that the innovation center is currently conducting hepatitis B drug research and development, several drugs have entered the first phase of research, and hope that in the near future, these drugs can be clinically tested in China and can be listed globally.

The third "dream": the internationalization of Chinese talents

Zhou Hong said that her third dream is the internationalization of Chinese talents, "I hope that we will not only create talents for the local people, but also hope that the local people can go to the world." Zhou Hong said that just this year, a vice president of Roche Pharmaceutical in Shanghai was appointed as the general manager of Roche Malaysia, becoming the first general manager trained by Roche Pharmaceutical China for the world.

Zhou Hong said that China has great potential, the continuous growth of the economy has made China has become the world's second largest economy and the second largest pharmaceutical and health market, the government is actively carrying out medical reform, not only to bring a lot of benefits to the majority of patients, but also to multinational pharmaceutical companies like Roche to bring a lot of opportunities.

Recently, the list of negotiated drugs in the National Medical Insurance Catalogue was released, and 36 negotiated drugs were included in the Category B scope of the National Basic Medical Insurance, Work Injury Insurance and Maternity Insurance Drug Catalogue (2017 Edition), and many innovative targeted drugs were included in the medical insurance catalogue. Roche's four targeted drugs include Herceptin for breast and stomach cancer, Anvetin for lung cancer and colorectal cancer, Merova for lymphoma, and Trokai for lung cancer, all of which have entered the national medical insurance directory.

"The inclusion of targeted drugs in medical insurance can not only reduce the burden on patients, but also give every patient the opportunity to get standardized treatment." I hope that slowly drugs for rare diseases like melanoma will also be included in Medicare. I think Zobov certainly didn't have to wait as many years as Herceptin to get into Medicare. Zhou Hong said that Roche will improve the accessibility of drugs through "four mores": one is deeper penetration, hoping to let more doctors and patients know the benefits of standardized treatment; second, a more complete course of treatment, there must be a formal course of treatment to benefit; third, a wider coverage, "Our goal is not that every city and village has our medical information consultant, but every patient, no matter where he is, has channels to know this drug, can get this drug, whether it is a medical association, or a famous doctor at the grassroots level, or through the Internet." The fourth is faster listing, "any product will face a large number of imitation competition after the patent period, so to ensure the sustainable development of enterprises, there must be more innovative products to be listed as soon as possible to meet the unfinished needs of patients." ”