Oct 12, 2020| JD Health

JD Facilitates Safe Delivery of the Multiple Sclerosis Drug

Hui Zhang
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by Hui Zhang

Novartis, one of the major global pharmaceutical companies, announced the launch of its MS (Multiple Sclerosis) drug Siponimod on JD Pharmacy， JD Health’s pharmaceutical platform, on Sept. 25th, making JD the first platform to sell the drug in China.

Siponimod, a drug for the treatment of rare diseases such as MS, requires cold chain to transport. JD will rely on its dedicated pharmaceutical warehouses, nationwide supply chain network and information systems including an intelligent temperature monitoring platform to ensure the most suitable environment for the drug’s delivery, with easy tracking of the delivery process.

MS is a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord. There are about 2.5 million patients with the disease worldwide, with an incidence of about 5 in 100,000 in Asian and African countries and more than 30,000 in China.

In China, the diagnosis of MS patients is often a long and difficult process,with 47% of patients cannot be diagnosed immediately and 38% of patients are misdiagnosed as having other diseases. Few disease-modifying therapy (DMT) drugs that can cure MS enter the Chinese market, and the utilization rate is less than 20%. At the same time, physicians in second- and third-tier cities have little experience in diagnosis and treatment, and patients scattered all over the country have to travel to big cities to purchase drugs.

“Siponimod has been shown to be effective in slowing disability progression in patients with progressive MS and can provide a powerful new treatment weapon for neuroimmunologists and MS patients in China,” said Hui Chen, vice president and head of commercial and emerging markets of Novartis China. “We will work with JD Health to further enhance the accessibility of the new drug, and thus to improve the quality of life for more patients.”

 

(zhanghui36@jd.com)

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