I can extract side effects

Chapter 476 The Disruptor in the Artificial Organ Market

In the next few days, projects such as chronic nephritis drugs, antioxidant drugs, asthma drugs, hypoglycemic drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, ultrasonic blood vessels, bionic painless syringes, artificial blood vessels, and artificial hearts have all been approved.

Fortunately, those five drugs are mixed among the dozens of drugs under development in all pipelines of Sanqing, and they are not eye-catching, as long as the clinical trials are steadily promoted.

But the three medical device products thrown out in one breath, including high-tech items such as artificial heart and artificial blood vessel, surprised Lu Tingfeng.

"Mr. Wei, these three projects seem to be very high-end. I'm afraid they won't be able to see results in the short term."

Lu Tingfeng looked at the documents in front of him with a look of shock, and he was at a loss for words.

"Artificial blood vessels, artificial hearts, these are the most cutting-edge technologies, and you can handle them all. It's amazing."

"Hehe, it's not all my credit, I just made a little improvement on it."

"The main credit is still at the Pangu Research Institute. There are many talented scientific researchers there, and they also cooperate with many scientific research institutions, and often have some good technical achievements."

Wei Kang said with a word, and said with a smile: "Anyway, let's set up the project first. It's one thing to make it out in the laboratory, but another thing to be able to industrialize mass production. It's up to you whether you can earn back all the investment money." It's gone."

"I understand. Don't worry about this, leave it to me." Lu Tingfeng agreed without thinking too much.

The main reason is that these projects are nothing new, and the research in reality has been very mature. Not only has there been a breakthrough from 0 to 1, but it has also developed from 1 to 10, but it has not yet developed from 10 to 100.

Among them, artificial blood vessels were successfully developed in the 1950s and began to be used clinically, but the main manufacturing materials are polyester, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyurethane (PU) and other polymer inorganic materials.

But so far, artificial blood vessels made of these polymer materials have various problems and cannot meet the high standards of clinical application.

The main problem is that it can only be used for large blood vessel replacement surgery, and cannot meet the needs of small-caliber artificial blood vessels.

In addition, after long-term use in the body, PU will undergo aging degradation and calcification, cracks, and even complete damage.

These are mainly exogenous implanted materials that trigger the attack of the immune system, an inflammatory response occurs, and oxidative degradation is induced.

In addition, the development of small-diameter blood vessels within 6 mm has always been an international problem.

Small-diameter artificial blood vessels are mainly used in heart bypass surgery, and there are 1 million heart patients every year. They are high-tech and high-value consumables, and the market prospect is very promising.

In the absence of small-caliber artificial blood vessels, patients can only use their own blood vessels for transplantation, which has very limited sources and will cause huge trauma to the human body.

The thinner the artificial blood vessel, the more expensive it is. An artificial blood vessel with an inner diameter of 8 mm is worth 4,000 yuan for 15 centimeters, and an artificial blood vessel with an inner diameter of 4 mm can easily cost tens of thousands.

There have been studies on this for a long time at home and abroad, and all have focused on biological protein materials such as silk, but no available products have been released.

Sanqing's artificial blood vessels are made of bionic materials and have a complex structure that is very similar to natural blood vessels. After being implanted in the human body, as time goes by, they will become the same as natural blood vessels in terms of appearance, behavior and function.

The main breakthrough of this technology is a synthetic protein molecule with a special structure of concentric rings, which can endow blood vessels with strong elasticity and stretching ability, so that they can expand and contract with the flow of blood.

Layers of elastin molecules are stacked together to form a solid blood vessel wall, and the outer layer is wrapped in a sheath structure. After being implanted into the human body, this part of the structure will gradually disappear, forming a highly organized bionic blood vessel.

In this way, the artificial blood vessel can be safely stored in the sterile bag and used until the time of transplantation.

As for the artificial heart, after two or three generations of development, it has already been used in clinical treatment.

However, the artificial heart commonly used in the market is already a product ten years ago.

The weight of the heart is 900 grams, which is 2-3 times the weight of a healthy human heart.

The external equipment is even more cumbersome, and the patient needs to carry a set of equipment weighing 4 kilograms to move around, including a controller, a set of driving devices such as a battery, and can not perform sports.

Because the artificial heart is a battery-powered pump head, it is necessary to connect the power cord from the inside and outside the body. It is conceivable that this whole set of equipment will bring a heavy burden to the patient.

In addition to maintaining life and being able to go out and walk around, the quality of life can be said to be nothing left.

As for the next-generation artificial hearts vigorously developed by various countries, basically they cannot escape this model, but the weight has been improved, so that the daily burden of patients is a little less.

One of the reasons for carrying so many things is that the power of the artificial heart is too high, reaching an average of about 20W.

A healthy human heart, on the other hand, can do the same work with only 1.5W of power, leaving no dregs in the artificial heart.

In contrast, Sanqing's artificial heart is a major breakthrough.

First of all, high-strength bionic materials are used, and the structure is very similar to the natural heart. It can also automatically adjust the blood flow to meet the needs of the human body. In this way, the power of the artificial heart is reduced to 3W, which can be said to be qualitative. improve.

The second is to get rid of the power cord, and the external power pack can wirelessly charge the artificial heart, as long as it is kept within 3 meters.

After the artificial heart is implanted, the patient only needs to carry a battery pack the size of a power bank, which can be automatically charged to keep the artificial heart running for 24 hours. It can also be placed on the bedside for charging at night, which is quite convenient.

The artificial heart itself is also very small, with a thickness of 2 cm, a diameter of 3 cm, and a weight of only 90 grams. It is very light and will not add much extra burden to the patient.

Weikang believes that with such powerful artificial hearts and artificial blood vessels, there will be absolutely no other manufacturers in this market.

The more Lu Tingfeng read these materials, the more startled he became, and the happier he became at the same time.

"Mr. Wei, with such an artificial heart, how many patients with heart failure can be saved."

"The price of an artificial heart is quite high. At present, an imported artificial heart device costs one million yuan, which is not affordable for ordinary people."

"Even if it is a domestic artificial heart, it costs 600,000 yuan, and such a large-scale heart surgery costs 200,000 yuan."

"It is conceivable that the market price is like this. If you want to transplant an artificial heart, you can't even think about it if you don't have 1.8 million."

"By the way, Mr. Wei, how much should we sell?"

Lu Tingfeng looked at Wei Kang cautiously, his heart pounding, afraid that the boss would say a number that would make his heart ache.

Wei Kang thought for a moment, then said: "The cost of an artificial heart is still quite high, besides, there are not too many patients with end-stage heart failure who can meet the transplantation standards. There is no clinical trial yet, and it is too early to discuss the price. How the market re-prices it.”

Lu Tingfeng immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the boss didn't set a super low price for such high-tech equipment, otherwise he would cry to death.

In fact, Wei Kang is also hesitating and doesn't want to set the price now, but he also has a bottom line in his heart.

When he first entered the equipment industry, he wanted to squeeze out the moisture in this industry.

But those are reusable testing equipment, such as biochemical detectors, B-ultrasound, CT, MRI, capsule gastroscopy, etc., which are used on patients many times a day and are essential for disease diagnosis, so the price should not be too expensive .

Even if the price is lowered a little, it can benefit the majority of patients and reduce the burden on medical insurance. This is called moisture.

However, a high-end device such as an artificial heart is only used on one patient, and it can prolong the patient's life for more than ten years.

It's hard to tell how much water is in such a high-value device.

After all, life is priceless, if you really want to measure it with money, it will never be too low.

The previous anti-cancer drugs sold for 200,000 yuan. Over the past few years, although they have gradually decreased, they still cost more than 100,000 yuan.

The average cost of organ transplantation is around 500,000 to 600,000 yuan, and it will be even higher if there is transplant rejection.

Among them, the organs are donated free of charge, and the main expenses are spent on pre- and post-examinations, hospitalization, and surgical expenses. Even if the transplantation is successful, the patient has to take anti-rejection drugs for a long time, and the annual drug cost is 30,000-40,000.

However, in many places now, part of the cost of organ transplantation can be reimbursed, including the cost of surgery and part of the cost of medicine.

Generally speaking, after medical insurance reimbursement, the patient's self-care part is about 150,000 to 200,000 in the end.

Logically speaking, the price of artificial organs should be lower than the cost of organ transplants.

In the minds of the public, artificial organs are certainly no match for original organs.

If the price is too high, it will not have much effect, and most people will still choose organ transplantation and wait for matching.

As long as the price is lower, many patients will choose to install an artificial organ for the transition when they can't wait.

This will undoubtedly prolong the precious survival time of patients and give them a greater chance of waiting for suitable organs.

It might also reduce organ smuggling and curb the rampant black market.

Therefore, between 300,000 and 500,000 is almost the bottom line in his heart.

As for the specific figure, it depends on the medical insurance reimbursement situation.

In addition to the artificial organ project, the bionic painless syringe also aroused Lu Tingfeng's interest.

Looking at the drawing, he couldn't help but sigh in admiration.

"Bionics is really amazing. It can actually imitate the mouthparts of mosquitoes and produce similar tiny needles."

"Sure enough, in terms of painless blood-sucking, mosquitoes are stronger. It is definitely a perfect example created by nature."

"That's natural," Wei Kang said slowly, pointing to the anatomical diagram of the mosquito's mouthparts and comparing it with the microneedle diagram.

"You see, there is a row of tiny and fine serrated structures on the outside and inside of the mosquito's lower jaw. The more the number of micro-serrated teeth, the stronger the ability to penetrate the skin. At the same time, the tip of the upper lip and lower jaw is also very sharp."

"Mosquitoes will straighten their mouthparts before piercing, and stab the skin quickly. This is a dynamic impact process. The tip first pierces the surface of the skin. As the penetration depth increases, it is accompanied by periodic vibrations, thereby driving the belt. Microserrated jaws saw through the skin."

"The combination of vibration and penetration during the whole process is as smooth as a percussion drill piercing butter, and can reach the capillaries without much effort."

"What's even more frightening is that the penetration force of the mosquito is very slight, only 16.5 micronewtons."

"This penetration force is 3 orders of magnitude smaller than the minimum penetration force of artificial microneedles - 10 millinewtons, and 6 orders of magnitude less than the penetration force of ordinary syringe needles - more than ten Newtons."

"Being pierced by such a special needle with almost undetectable force, can people feel the same?"

Lu Tingfeng shook his head and sighed, "Damn mosquitoes, no wonder they don't even notice when they bite."

"Yes, the creations of nature are actually very smart, with different exquisite structures, so we humans should learn more about nature's brilliant designs from them." Wei Kang couldn't help laughing.

Lu Tingfeng couldn't help thinking: "Indeed, I am very optimistic about this product. More importantly, we can extend this kind of bionic thinking to the research and development of medical devices."

Afterwards, the two discussed the situation of the project for a while, and then Lu Tingfeng got up and left.

Before leaving, he looked passionate, and his whole body fell into a kind of excitement.

It seems that he is not going to work, but a general going to the battlefield.

Looking at Lu Tingfeng's appearance, Wei Kang was also a little speechless.

This subordinate works really hard. Although the results are obvious to all, something has to happen every time.

Myocardial infarction was spelled out the first two times, and the hospital sent it to the hospital twice, directly promoting the birth of the Sanqing Infirmary with my own efforts.

"This time, I hope nothing will happen to you."

"I have been to the hospital twice, so I will learn some lessons."

Wei Kang thought silently for a few seconds, feeling that there should be no more problems.

To put it bluntly, in this case, even a pig should know that health is the most important thing.

*****

"Tuk-tuk!"

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

Wei Kang raised his head and saw a familiar figure appearing at the door.

He immediately went forward in surprise: "Uncle Sun, are you back to work after your vacation?"

It was Sun Chengren who appeared at the door. He smiled and took Wei Kang's arm, and sat down on the sofa in the reception area.

"I brought something from home, and when I gave it to Lianyun, she said that she was preparing for pregnancy, and some things might not be suitable for eating."

"So I found out the good news." Sun Chengren looked at Wei Kang, with the light of love in his eyes flickering: "Looking at you step by step, your career is getting bigger and stronger, and you have found a good wife to get married. It’s great to have kids again.”

Wei Kang chuckled: "The child is still early, isn't this preparing? It's not like she's pregnant."

Sun Chengren smiled, patted Wei Kang's arm vigorously, and said, "Old Wei's family is finally consummated, I'm really happy."

"However, since you are expecting a child, I think what you said last time is very correct."

"No, not long after I came back, I got another good news."

Sun Chengren took out a document from his handbag and handed it over.

"You asked me to find a farm suitable for raising pigs and chickens and making organic ingredients, and I found it for you!"

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