by Vivian Yang
Ahead of this year’s World Rare Diseases Day on February 28th, JD Health announced its strategy for building an ecosystem to provide all-round services for people with rare diseases in China, helping them better access medical treatment, medications, healthcare management and financial support.
The approach is an elevation from JD Health’s Rare Diseases Care Project which was launched last February. It is estimated that the project has provided medication and healthcare support to more than 24,000 patients with rare diseases in the past 12 months.
Ceremony for the launch of JD Health’s All-Round Service for Patients with Rare Diseases
JD Pharmacy, the medicine retailing channel of JD Health, offers nearly 70 percent of approved medicines for rare diseases in China, making it the most comprehensive online retailer in this regard, according to JD Health’s announcement during the launch ceremony held in Beijing on February 27th.
The company has been actively promoting the supply of rare disease medicines through close cooperation with pharmaceutical companies at home and abroad. For instance, last year, JD Pharmacy became the initial online distributor for Novartis’ Mayzent® (siponimod), an innovative drug for multiple sclerosis (MS), and Takeda’s FIRAZYR, a newly imported injection for acute attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE).
JD also developed an integrated proprietary cold-chain delivery service for rare diseases medicines, which will be sent from JD’s warehouse to patients’ door steps. By the end of December 2021, JD’s self-operated delivery service has covered more than 200 cities across China.
Meanwhile, a patient recruitment center was set up on JD Pharmacy to connect patients with clinical trials and support the acceleration of new medicine development. Patients can also submit their medicine requests to a wish list on JD Health which helps to guide the company as it explores further cooperation with pharmaceutical companies to push forward the market approval process.
A roundtable discussion on companies’ roles in treating rare diseases with partners from pharmaceutical companies
On the life and financial support side, JD Health has been providing fund application, healthcare consultation, patients’ activities and knowledge sharing events together with the Illness Challenge Foundation and other rare disease patients organizations. So far four patient groups with different types of rare diseases, including hereditary epidermolysis bullosa, neuromyelitis optica, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and idiopathic pulmonary hypertension have been benefiting from these services on a regular basis.
With the goal to accelerate diagnosis, JD Health works closely with pharmaceutical companies, foundations and other partners to explore new services such as inviting renowned doctors for telemedicine consultations, offering online healthcare courses on rare diseases, providing gene testing, and building up online training section for doctors on the grassroots level to help them on rare disease diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.
“Rare diseases are not only a medical issue but more a social issue,” said Enlin Jin, CEO of JD Health at the ceremony. “We have joined hands with many partners to continuously explore multiparty co-payment and public welfare assistance models, and we hope that this progress and these initiatives will realize our original intention, which is to create tangible value for the course of rare disease prevention and treatment.”
Jin said the JD Health’s “medical treatment + medicine + service + payment” ecosystem for rare diseases will continue to be improved to serve patients and arouse more public awareness and support.
(vivian.yang@jd.com)
