Expensive! 21 million 'high-priced drugs' approved, wealth or strength may widen the 19-year lifespan gap

Not long ago, after the approval of 14 million injections of special-effect drugs for rare diseases, it caused huge controversy, and now its "big" position in pricing has not been hot, but it has been snatched by 21 million injections of "high-priced drugs" .

Recently, a biological company in the United States disclosed a new "high-priced drug", and the gene therapy Skysona (also known as: eli-cel) was approved by the US FDA for marketing. As the first gene therapy approved by the FDA for use in early-stage neurological disorders, its price of 21 million really shocked many people. It also officially replaced the record of 14 million injections of "high-priced drugs", while the two It's only a month away.

Professionals said that gene therapy is currently entering the clinic according to the established procedures, and it has quite good feasibility. However, due to the high cost of research and development, production and other aspects, its pricing has remained high.

For gene therapy, it refers to the use of genetic engineering technology to deliver programmed genes to replace the original defective genes. Scientists believe that this therapy is suitable for the physiological dysfunction of cells caused by genetic damage, as well as the aging phenomenon of the body related to it.

The scientific research community pointed out that gene-directed intervention in aging has become one of the mainstream directions in the field of biological sciences. The potential it is expected to achieve in the future has many scholars excited and eager to try it.

Elizabeth Parish, who founded the gene therapy company BioViva, was also the first to use gene therapy to intervene in aging. In 2015, after she completed more than 100 treatments, the test found that the telomere length of white blood cells in the body was stretched by 9%, which is equivalent to a reduction of 20 years of biological age.

Elizabeth's demonstration caused shocks in the scientific research community. In 2019, the gene therapy company Libella decided to conduct a one-year clinical trial. Not only that, the trial was also approved by the IRB (Institutional Ethical Review Board), with the goal of testing whether humans can reverse the 20-year decay process, and the premise of participating in this experiment is that you have to pay a fee of 7 million.

Seeing this, we have to sigh that 7 million is too much for ordinary people. If the strength of wealth can determine the length of people's lifespan, then the lifespan gap between the rich and the poor will obviously be further widened. But in fact, this 7 million is obviously insignificant compared to the crazy investment of the rich in related fields. Bezos, the former richest man in the world, invested 20 billion in a biotech start-up this year, and he is also researching aging intervention methods based on reprogramming technology. The wealthy Saudi royal family even claims to spend 1 billion yuan each year to support related projects.

Prior to this, American scientists were the first to discover a "boisc" technology with the potential to reverse the old state and extend the life cycle by 30%. The sky-high price” was acquired by a few rich people.

The good news of advanced biotechnology has made human expectations stretched again and again, and the high threshold beyond the reach of ordinary people has also become the dividing line between ordinary people and the rich. Whether it is gene therapy or the pre-universal "boisc" category, life extension has always been the exclusive property of the rich.

Fortunately, as the problem of global aging becomes more and more prominent, countries around the world also pay more attention to the R&D investment in the field of aging, and the situation of the exclusive use of the rich is gradually changing. The "boisc" items that used to cost millions at every turn are now affordable by most people at four-digit prices. International JD Health data shows that it has reached nearly one million people aged 40-70 in first- and second-tier cities with aging and slowing demand.

The twenty-eight rule tells us that 80% of the wealth is in the hands of 20% of the people, and the difference in wealth affects not only the standard of living, but also the length of life. British scientists recently found that the gap between the rich and the poor has affected the length of lifespan. In terms of local conditions, the average life expectancy of women in poor areas is about 52.4 years, while women in rich areas live 19 years longer than them, while men between rich and poor live 19 years longer. The lifespan gap is 18 years.

The researchers said that this difference may be caused by income inequality, because the rich have more access to more advanced medical and technological achievements, and they also have the conditions to pay more attention to diet, work and rest. Moreover, rich people who do not have to worry about food and clothing are naturally not poor - people's lives are under heavy pressure, so while they are not physically tired, it is not easy for them to have psychological emotions that affect their own health.

The exploration of advanced technological achievements has changed the long-term exclusive situation of the rich, and the life cycle is extended, and ordinary people can also try it at a low cost. According to Professor Sinclair of Harvard Medical School, the threshold for the use of future related achievements may be equivalent to a cup of coffee.

Therefore, we don't need to pay too much attention to the high threshold of 14 million injections and 21 million injections of "high-priced drugs". With the injection of more and more capital and the maturity of related technologies, it is a predictable fact that the cost of its use will drop.

Not only that, China currently has 260 million elderly people over the age of 60. In the future, the aging intervention market under the gray-haired economy is expected to reach a scale of 1 trillion. If those newly launched related technologies can be popularized, the future development will be more impressive, and more people will enjoy the dividends brought by technology, and it may become a reality for everyone to be healthy and 100 years old.