China rolls out new drug for Alzheimer’s

A new drug has been rolled out by China which can treat the Alzheimer’s disease. This launch of a new drug has raised the expectations of millions of people who suffer from this chronic brain disorder. According to China’s National Medical Products Administration (CNMPA), this drug happens to be the first therapy for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in 17 years. The drug is extracted from brown algae and has been named GV-971. It was officially approved on November 02, 2019 and is now available in China’s domestic market at a price of 40,000 yuan ($5,700) for a patient per annum. Shanghai Green Valley Pharmaceuticals is one of the developers of this drug, its chairman Lyu Songtao said, “We will try to include it in the basic medical insurance programme so it will be reimbursable, so the drug will be affordable to most patients”. According to the doctors, this GV-971 is quite effective and can cure mild to moderate forms of Alzheimer’s disease and improve cognition. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. It happens to be the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. It usually starts slowly and gradually worsens over time. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems with language, disorientation, mood swings, loss of motivation, not managing self-care, and behavioral issues. A person suffering from this disease often withdraws from family and society and the typical life expectancy following diagnosis is three to nine years. With this new drug in the market, at least 50 million people can be cured using this therapy.