After being fired, I became the light of medicine

Chapter 76 25% cure rate, that’s awesome!

After a brief thought, Chen Wen replied:
"This patient Xu Bo said that he was diagnosed with hepatitis B during a physical examination when he was in elementary school."

"Two years ago, he felt a little unwell and came for a check-up. At that time, his transaminase level reached over 140, nearly three times higher than the normal value. I then gave him antiviral treatment."

"After taking tenofovir for a year, that is, last year, he decided to try interferon while he was still young, to see if he could be completely cured of hepatitis B."

"Last month, it was exactly one year since he received interferon treatment. Although the hepatitis B virus DNA was below the detection line and the surface antigen was also low, it did not turn negative in the end. So I recommended this 'QS-001' to him and asked him to participate in the clinical trial."

Hearing this, Dean Zhou frowned slightly.

"Director Chen, according to what you said, could it be due to interferon?"

Chen Wen thought for a moment, then answered slowly:

“There is such a possibility.”

"One year after the interferon injection, its effect can continue to be maintained in the human body for three to six months."

"but……"

He paused.

"However, the chance of the test results not turning negative when using interferon but turning negative after stopping the drug is too small."

Dean Zhou and Feng Gang were both silent. Chen Wen's words seemed to have answered the question, but in fact, there was no accurate conclusion at all.

But it’s not Chen Wen’s fault.

When Qingshan Pharmaceutical's new drug "QS-001" recruited patients, there were no restrictions on whether the patients had used interferon or were taking antiviral drugs, etc. As long as the patients were hepatitis B patients, they could participate.

This makes it extremely difficult to confirm whether the negative test result is entirely due to "QS-001" at this time.

Ten seconds later, Feng Gang coughed softly:
"Director Zhou, Director Chen, I don't think we need to dwell on this issue right now."

“Firstly, the Phase II clinical trial is a double-blind test, and we currently do not know whether Xu Bo is in the experimental group or the control group;

If it is the control group, it means it has nothing to do with Qingshan Pharmaceutical's 'QS-001'. If it is the experimental group... we still have to observe. "

"After all, only one person in the group was cured. Could it be a coincidence?"

Feng Gang's reminder made the two of them suddenly sober up and they nodded.

indeed,

Xu Bo’s recovery brought great surprise, but just one person’s recovery cannot prove that Qingshan Pharmaceutical’s “QS-001” is really effective.

"Director Feng is right. Let's wait until Xu Bo's Phase II clinical trial is finished next month to see if he will be included in the trial group."

"By the way, send a copy of the clinical results to Qingshan Pharmaceutical as soon as possible. Zhang Yang and his team are probably waiting for it."

"it is good."

Zhang Yang soon obtained the test results for the first month of the first batch of Phase II clinical trials.

Compared with the uncertainty of Dean Zhou and Chen Wen, he immediately determined that this was the effect of "Ekofovir"!

Although the effectiveness of "Afovir" is only about 25% at this time, he has looked at the examination data of the patient Xu Bo. The viral load and hepatitis B antigen are low, which shows that there is not much hepatitis B virus in the patient's body and not many infected liver cells.

In addition, he has just received interferon treatment, and with the use of "Afovir", it is entirely possible to eliminate the hepatitis B virus within one month!
The news also reached the "QS-001" project team of Qingshan Pharmaceutical, and the research and development team headed by Wei Tian was also quite excited.

Although it is still not possible to fully confirm whether "Afovir" cured the patient, this is still the first good news since the project was established a year ago.

Everyone is more motivated.

In the following period, not only did Zhang Yang focus all his energy on the clinical trial of "Ekofovir", but even Dean Zhou, Feng Gang and Chen Wen were also paying close attention to the final results of the first batch of phase II clinical patients.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

By the end of the last day of the comprehensive examination, Dean Zhou and Chen Wen had been waiting in the office of the Clinical Center for a long time. Not long after, Feng Gang hurried in with the latest clinical data.

"President Zhou, Director Chen, good news!"

"Xu Bo has confirmed that he has been assigned to the experimental group!"

"And there's even better news!"

"The final comprehensive examination results showed that not only Xu Bo was completely cured of hepatitis B, but another female patient in the same group, Zhang Meng, also turned negative and was cured!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Dean Zhou and Chen Wen looked at each other, and suddenly there was a strong sense of surprise in their eyes!

If one person's cure is a coincidence, now two out of the eight subjects in the same group have been cured, which means it is not a coincidence!
Rather, Qingshan Pharmaceutical’s innovative drug “QS-100” really works!
Chen Wen seemed even more anxious and grabbed the latest clinical data from Feng Gang. He now eagerly wanted to know the condition of another patient, Zhang Meng.

Quickly scanning Zhang Meng's information sheet, compared to Xu Bo, Zhang Meng did not receive interferon treatment, but was just taking antiviral drugs normally.

In other words, now even the cause of interferon can almost be ruled out!

He took a deep breath, returned the clinical data sheet to Feng Gang, and said slowly:

"Director Zhou, Director Feng, two of the eight test subjects have tested negative. The 25% probability of testing negative is not low!"

"I didn't expect Qingshan Pharmaceutical to actually develop a drug that is effective in curing hepatitis B!"

Feng Gang was also quite happy, as he still had deep feelings for Zhang Yang and Qingshan Pharmaceutical.

But after a moment, he frowned slightly:

"But in addition to the good news, there is also bad news in this clinical data."

"It's not bad news. Their drug has the same obvious side effects as in the first phase of clinical trials!"

As he spoke, he placed the data in front of Dean Zhou and Director Chen and explained:
"Clinical data showed that all eight trial group members had elevated transaminase levels during medication, with the highest level reaching over 300."

"Moreover, all eight subjects experienced significant side effects, including nausea, vomiting, and fatigue."

"I guess it's an unavoidable side effect caused by the therapeutic mechanism of this drug, and it will be difficult to avoid in the future."

As the chief physician, Chen Wen has the most say in the research and development of hepatitis B virus.

He looked at it carefully, and finally said slowly:

"That's right. This drug itself is cytotoxic. It kills hepatocytes while killing the hepatitis B virus. A large number of hepatocytes die and transaminase levels are bound to rise. There is no solution."

"As long as it doesn't cause too much damage to the liver, I think it's acceptable."

"By the way, Director Feng, judging from the clinical results over the past two months, have these patients suffered obvious liver damage?"

"That's not true!"

Feng Gang shook his head:
"Although the transaminase level was elevated, the results of B-ultrasound and liver biopsy showed no obvious abnormalities, which proves that this drug is good at controlling toxicity. Short-term medication should not cause irreversible effects on the liver."

Dean Zhou and Chen Wen both breathed a sigh of relief.

After a moment, Chen Wen's expression relaxed:

"Director Zhou, this drug seems to be quite successful so far."

"The 25% cure rate is almost comparable to that of interferon, and the side effects and treatment period are greatly shortened."

"If the cure rate can be maintained at 25%, it is very likely to be successfully marketed."

Dean Zhou also showed a smile on his face, and he couldn't wait to tell Zhang Yang the good news!
"I'll call Zhang Yang right now and let them know the good news. They'll be happy!"

"A 25% cure rate is really amazing!"

(End of this chapter)