Chapter 153 Male Contraceptive-SAC Inhibitor (Please subscribe)
In the past two or three years, Qingshan Pharmaceutical has invested more than 20 billion in research and development funds on various drugs.
Since last year, certain results have been achieved one after another. More than a dozen organic compounds for the treatment of various diseases have been approved, and more in-depth research and development from organic compounds to drugs has been launched.
Of course, this does not mean that these projects will eventually be successfully launched.
Some compounds may be discarded by PASS during the animal testing stage,
Even if they pass the initial process of animal experiments, ethics, etc., most of the remaining drugs will be stuck in the second and third clinical phases for various reasons, and eventually have to stagnate or even abandon the drug.
It can be said that in the field of innovative drug research and development, high elimination rate and low pass rate are the norm.
The reason why Qingshan Pharmaceutical was able to market various drugs so quickly was because all the drugs came from the complete simulator provided by Zhang Yang.
Once a new drug is fully independently developed by Tsingshan Pharmaceutical, such a high elimination rate will inevitably occur.
However, Zhang Yang did not expect that the first self-developed drug in the history of Qingshan Pharmaceutical would be a male contraceptive pill.
"Should I be happy, or should I be happy?"
Zhang Yang sighed in his heart, and soon felt relieved.
At present, modern human contraceptive methods are very mature. For example, women can use implanted "birth control rings", oral contraceptives and other methods to prevent pregnancy.
Men can also achieve contraception by wearing condoms or even undergoing vasectomy.
This has led to the trend that there are not many pharmaceutical companies with R&D capabilities in the world, and they are very eager to invest in the research and development of male contraceptives.
Take the male contraceptive pill reported by Wei Tian, for example. He remembered that when the active ingredient was first discovered, the drug's effect seemed to be only 25%.
If Qingshan Pharmaceutical had not had many R&D projects at the beginning, and I had continued to push forward with the attitude of "I'm here for you" and "Let's give it a try", maybe this drug would also be swept away. Into the trash heap, no further discoveries were made.
So,
It is expected that Qingshan Pharmaceutical can achieve certain results in this market that is not taken too seriously.
“Well, since God’s will is so, the project team is doing well again!”
"As the first completely self-developed drug of Qingshan Pharmaceutical, I should pay more attention to it and not extinguish everyone's enthusiasm for research and development!"
Zhang Yang thought to himself, then adjusted his sitting posture and looked at Wei Tian, solemnly affirmed:
"Wei Tian, you did a good job, very good! All those who participated in the research The personnel who issued the pills will be rewarded in full in accordance with relevant regulations, and the company will see everyone’s efforts!”
“Okay, please tell us specifically about the drug mechanism of this male contraceptive pill and how it achieves male contraception! ?”
“Also, what about the side effects and reversibility?”
"Okay!"
Wei Tian was also very excited by Zhang Yang's emotions. He looked at Fang Hanliang on the side, then fell on Zhang Yang, and said:
"If you want to talk about this male Contraceptive pills, we have to briefly talk about female contraceptive pills.”
“We all know that women nowadays. Contraceptive pills are mainly short-acting contraceptive pills and emergency contraceptive pills. The previous long-acting contraceptive pills almost withdrew from the market because the drugs remained in the body for a long time and had too many side effects.” The principle of birth control pills is the same, they all contain a certain amount of progesterone;
Women take progesterone to inhibit follicular development, thereby inhibiting ovarian ovulation. If the ovaries do not ovulate, they will naturally not become pregnant. "
"Emergency contraceptive pills such as 'Yu Ting' contain eight times the progesterone of short-acting contraceptive pills. They increase the progesterone in women's bodies in a short period of time and in large doses, thus achieving the effect of emergency contraception. Purpose. "
"Of course, this method causes great side effects. A large increase in progesterone in women in a short period of time can easily cause irregular menstruation, headaches, nausea and other problems. Moreover, the probability of contraception is about 74%- 85%. ”
Zhang Yang nodded, progesterone is actually one of the types of hormones in the female body.
After increasing the progesterone in the female body, the human body will think that the female is pregnant, so it will no longer cultivate follicles. The egg will not be released.
However, if a woman no longer ovulates, it means that the body no longer secretes estrogen and no longer has menstruation, which is obviously abnormal.
So, any female contraceptive pill contains not only progesterone, but also a small amount of estrogen, which is necessary for women.
Wei Tian then said:
“The principle of male contraceptive pills is almost the same.”
“There are two main methods in the medical community. One is to use it with women. The principle is the same as that of birth control pills. Taking hormone drugs reduces the secretion of gonadotropin in the male body, thereby inhibiting the number of male sperm, resulting in oligospermia and infertility. ”
"But there are serious problems with this method. Changing androgens in men's bodies is likely to cause reduced male sexual desire, reduced beards, and even breast tissue hyperplasia, leading to breast enlargement!"
"Of course, many Pharmaceutical companies are working hard to improve these side effects. ”
“The other method is also the method currently adopted by our male contraceptive pill.”
“We no longer change the androgens in men’s bodies, but direct the problem to the ones that have already been generated. Semen.”
At this point, Wei Tian paused.
Zhang Yang listened carefully and nodded slightly. Fang Hanliang on the side also became more and more interested. He then picked up the information that Zhang Yang had just put down from the table, listened to it, and looked at it carefully.
Seeing this, Wei Tian continued:
"As we all know, male sperm are further matured and stored in the epididymis. The epididymis also secretes some substances to provide nutrition and protection for the sperm."
“The active ingredient in this male contraceptive pill we discovered is exactly the protector for these epididymal secretions. It has a good inhibitory effect on sperm quality, and it will lead to a significant reduction in sperm quality..."
"Of course, the effect of the drug was not very good at the beginning, only about 26% was fully effective, but later After concentrating our efforts on research and development, we gradually found one of the most important protective substances in epididymal secretions.”
"This substance is essential for sperm to maintain vitality and maturity. We named it - soluble adenylyl cyclase, or sAC for short."
"Later, we conducted in-depth research on sAC cyclase. , while making improvements using the active ingredients we previously discovered, and finally developed a sAC inhibitor that mainly targets the action of sAC cyclase! "
"The complete chemical name is 'soluble adenosine! Acid cyclase sAC inhibitor', this inhibitor perfectly inhibits the activating substance sAC provided to sperm in the epididymis, causing all sperm stored in it to lose activity and no longer swim."
" It can’t even swim, so naturally it can’t break through the egg cell wall to form a fertilized egg.”
“And this is also the core mechanism of this sAC inhibitor drug!”
Zhang Yang nodded repeatedly after hearing this.
Not only him, but also Fang Hanliang sitting next to him nodded frequently.
After a moment, before Zhang Yang could speak, Fang Hanliang said:
"Director Wei, what about the side effects and reversibility?"
"There are almost no side effects."
Wei Tian smiled slightly.
“This is an inhibitor that only targets sAC cyclase. It does not change the hormones in the male body, so it will not have any impact on the human endocrine system.”
“Judging from the data of our clinical phase I and II trials, neither hepatotoxicity nor renal toxicity has been shown. It can be said that it is a This drug has almost no side effects.”
“It can’t even be called a drug, it can only be called a sAC inhibitor.”
“And in terms of reversibility...according to clinical data. Within two weeks of stopping the drug, the inhibitor effect completely faded, sAC cyclase returned to normal values, and the patient’s sperm activity returned to normal.”
"There is no problem with reversibility." Zhang Yang's face was already full of smiles.
As a drug developer, he naturally understands the advantages and selling points of this drug.
The three most important and necessary indicators of a contraceptive pill are:
Good contraceptive effect, high safety (little side effects) and strong reversibility.
This sAC inhibitor clearly meets all the requirements of a contraceptive pill.
He couldn't help but praise again:
"Wei Tian, you have done a good job!"
"This is indeed as you said, it can be regarded as the world's first real A safe male contraceptive pill!"
"The clinical trial will be completed as soon as possible and it will be launched on the market as soon as possible. If you encounter any problems, please report to me directly!"
"Okay, boss!"
After saying that, Zhang Yang nodded and picked up all the information about sAC inhibitors that Wei Tian had just handed to him from his desk.
He is ready to take a serious look at the research and development information, and has made up his mind to promote this male contraceptive self-developed by Qingshan Pharmaceutical!
But just as he stood up and prepared to return to the office, Fang Hanliang, who had always been interested in this male contraceptive pill, suddenly said:
"Director Wei, the first project team's representative of this contraceptive pill is When will the Phase III clinical trial start? Why don’t I join your clinical trial?”
After the words fell, Zhang Yang was stunned for a moment. He was about to stand up and suddenly stopped and looked at Fang Hanliang blankly.
Wei Tian was the same. He was stunned for a few seconds before suddenly saying:
"Fang Bo, do you also need contraception?"
"Huh? This is not normal. ? Why do you feel that your expressions are a little strange?"
Zhang Yang glanced at Wei Tian subconsciously.
To be honest, we just sat together to discuss male contraceptive pills. After all, we were discussing something with a work mentality, so we didn't feel too embarrassed.
But now that Fang Hanliang took the initiative to take and try male contraceptive pills, the two of them felt a little embarrassed.
In the thinking of traditional Chinese men, this kind of topic is as private as asking, "Do you wear a condom when paying for public food?"
Fang Hanliang did not expect the two people to react like this, but he soon came to his senses.
Shaked his head and smiled:
"I have been in Germany for twenty years, and my thinking may be a little different from that in China. No, it should be a cultural difference."
"As you know, my wife is German, and there is no such difference abroad. With the widespread use of 'birth control rings', most people rely on condoms and oral contraceptive pills for contraception."
"When we first started in Germany, we mainly relied on condoms and oral contraceptive pills. If you rely on condoms for contraception.”
“But if you haven’t lived abroad for a long time, you don’t know that foreign condoms are actually much thicker than domestic ones, and the experience is not good;
domestic condoms. Unscrupulous manufacturers make domestic condoms very thin to create gimmicks, or to create a better experience.”
"Jenny changed to oral short-acting contraceptive pills after we had children, but she needed to go to the hospital for a physical examination every six months, so..."
"There is now a contraceptive pill for men, and after I learned about it, Knowing that there are no side effects, why wouldn’t I want to try it?”
That’s it.
Zhang Yang smiled slightly awkwardly, and it was obvious that Fang Hanliang was a good husband.
But after a moment, he suddenly realized a serious problem.
Fang Hanliang has lived abroad for more than 20 years and has accepted Western values in his thinking.
But what about traditional Chinese men?
To put it more bluntly.
Are you willing to take male contraceptive pills?
Zhang Yang was suddenly shocked when he thought of this question. Deep down in his heart, he seemed to be a little resistant.
"This is a cultural difference!"
At this time, Fang Hanliang, as an elite who has received domestic education and has lived abroad for a long time, also noticed this problem.
Reminded:
“By the way, Mr. Zhang, actually your reaction just now made me think of a question.”
“This male contraceptive pill might The acceptance rate may be higher abroad, but in China... I think there should be an acceptance process.”
Fang Hanliang said this very tactfully.
Zhang Yang nodded, the excitement of wanting to promote it just now was gone.
"Thank you, Fang Bo. I also noticed what you said. I will consider this matter carefully."
"Well, that's good!"
……
The joy of Tsingshan Pharmaceutical's self-developed world's first male contraceptive pill disappeared a lot with Fang Hanliang's "interlude".
Zhang Yang returned to the office with the information and immediately called his assistant.
The "differences in culture and values" between the two parties in Fang Hanliang's office just now did serve as a reminder to Zhang Yang.
Soon, assistant Xiao Liu came to the desk.
"Xiao Liu, please immediately collect some contraceptive data about birth control pills, condoms, etc."
"Pay special attention to the differences between each region and each country in the world. After sorting it out, send it to me at the latest tomorrow afternoon. The more information, the better, and the more detailed the better. Do you understand?"
Assistant Xiao Liu, who was not married yet, turned a little red when he heard this, but nodded quickly.
“Got it, Mr. Zhang.”
As soon as Xiao Liu turned around, Zhang Yang added:
“Don’t be afraid of spending money, go to those foreign data websites that provide paid downloads Take a look and buy a copy of all the relevant data.”
"This is very important!"
"Okay, Mr. Zhang, I'll do it right now!"
Assistant Xiao Liu was very fast, and at noon the next day, a complete report about Charts and data on birth control pills, condoms and other contraceptive methods around the world were placed on Zhang Yang's desk.
At the same time, Ren Xiaomin also learned that Qingshan Pharmaceutical Drug Research and Development Center had independently developed the world's first male contraceptive pill, and hurriedly came to the office to discuss it with Zhang Yang.
“Brother Ren, look, the contraceptive methods in foreign countries are indeed completely different from those of us East Asians!”
(End of this chapter)