New drugs for chronic hepatitis C in China enter phase III clinical practice

"China has the largest number of hepatitis patients in the world, with 93 million hepatitis B carriers, accounting for one third of the global total, while 45 million hepatitis C carriers account for a quarter of the global total." This is the latest data released by Professor Wei Lai, chairman of Hepatology branch of Chinese Medical Association Wei Lai pointed out in the third "Tsinghua YANGSEN public health day" jointly launched by YANGSEN Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Tsinghua University and Hepatology branch of Chinese Medical Association that the direct economic loss of hepatitis B to China each year is up to 900 billion yuan, which has become a heavy burden for China's economic and social development, so the prevention and control of hepatitis has become an urgent task for the Chinese government Compared with the huge population base, China lacks sufficient medical equipment and medical staff, so it is difficult to implement the treatment standards at the grass-roots level; especially in the remote rural areas, there are often only non professional "barefoot doctors" In addition, for patients, the cost of treatment is too high, the lack of economic and effective drugs has become the primary problem of medical treatment, especially for the poor rural population, many patients are still unable to get effective treatment In recent years, the Chinese government and relevant agencies have made great efforts in the prevention and treatment of hepatitis B and C According to the data of the Ministry of health, since the implementation of the strategy of hepatitis B vaccination for newborns in 1992, the work of hepatitis B vaccination in China has made positive progress According to the data of centers for Disease Control and prevention in Beijing and Shanghai, the incidence rate of hepatitis B in two cities has decreased since 1990 In addition, in March 2004, December 2005, the hepatology branch of the Chinese Medical Association and the infectious diseases branch of the Chinese Medical Association formulated the guidelines for the prevention and treatment of chronic hepatitis C and chronic hepatitis B respectively In order to eliminate employment discrimination against HBV carriers and protect their privacy, the Chinese government has also formulated relevant laws and regulations However, people's attention and awareness of the two viral hepatitis are not as high as AIDS, and many hepatitis patients often suffer from different degrees of discrimination in their daily work and life In the face of many challenges, "Tsinghua YANGSEN Joint Research Center for infectious diseases" takes 2013 public health day as an opportunity to focus on the theme of "innovation leading, anti liver disease", strive to improve public awareness of two viral hepatitis, and explore innovative prevention and control measures To further explore the basic research, clinical treatment, drug research and development, policy development, prevention and treatment guidelines related to liver disease "We believe that knowledge and awareness are the key to overcoming the challenge of disease." Shi Yigong, President of the school of life sciences and executive vice president of the school of medicine of Tsinghua University, pointed out that the more the public knows about the prevention and treatment of hepatitis B, C and other diseases, the more they can overcome these diseases "This is the reason why we cooperated with YANGSEN pharmaceutical to establish" Tsinghua YANGSEN Joint Research Center for infectious diseases ", and cooperated with hepatology branch of Chinese Medical Association to promote" public health day " Shi Yigong said that "public health day" and "tsinghua-janssen Joint Research Center for infectious diseases" provide an excellent platform and serve as a model for enterprises, research institutions and institutions of higher learning to jointly promote China's public health and achieve outstanding results "We look forward to more innovative enterprises and institutions joining in this far-reaching cooperation." It is reported that the strategic partnership between Janssen Pharmaceutical and Tsinghua University in the field of infectious diseases prevention and control has entered its third year With the participation of Hepatology branch of Chinese Medical Association, it will continue to expand cooperation in the field of infectious diseases public health and explore innovative ways to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as hepatitis In addition, the reporter also learned that simeprevir (tmc435), a new drug for chronic hepatitis C developed by Xi'an Janssen, has entered the phase III clinical trial stage in China.