GSK Partners with Academician Zhong Nanshan to Launch COPD Registry Study and Asthma Digital Management Platform in China

Recently, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned that global pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has entered into a collaboration with the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases. This partnership will benefit patients in Guangzhou suffering from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

This strategic collaboration includesProspective COPD Registry Study and the "Shuchang Huxi" Online Management Platform for Chinese Asthma PatientsTwo parts.

COPD Prospective StudyIt will cover 5,000 patients to gain in-depth insights into the characteristics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), disease progression, treatment management, and the evolution of therapeutic regimens. Through this registry study, it is also possible to assess the burden of COPD in China and predict disease outcomes. These data will help inform future COPD management strategies in China.

“Breathe Freely” China Asthma Patient Online Management Platform, will collaborate with institutions at all levels across China that are committed to asthma management, aiming to establish a national online management platform for asthma patients based on standardized medical records, as well as to achieve single-disease data collection and database sharing for asthma. This initiative will actively promote the formulation of clinical diagnosis and treatment guidelines for asthma, with an expected coverage of routine management for at least 60,000 asthma patients within three years.

According to the latest national epidemiological survey on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the prevalence among adults in China is 10%. The population with asthma is also substantial (commonly cited online as 30 million, though without verified data sources). Respiratory diseases have been recognized by the World Health Organization as one of the four major diseases posing a threat to human health. Data from the 2011 Beijing Asthma Epidemiological Survey indicated that the asthma control rate in China was only 34.9%, highlighting an urgent situation.

Academician Zhong Nanshan and his team are highly authoritative in the field of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), ranking among the international forefront.Especially in terms of early detection and early treatmentThis is the main reason why GSK chose Academician Zhong Nanshan and his team, as well as Guangdong Province.

Currently, GSK’s marketed respiratory products in the Chinese market mainly include Seretide, Ventolin, and Flixotide. In the first quarter of 2017, GSK’s respiratory division continued to achieve double-digit sales growth. Over the next three to five years, GSK plans to further enrich its respiratory product portfolio, aiming to provide comprehensive treatment solutions for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to meet the diverse therapeutic needs of patients. The future respiratory pipeline will remain primarily focused on the treatment of asthma and COPD.

In recent years, primary healthcare has garnered increasing attention. The collaboration between GSK and the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease is also aimed at expanding its reach to the primary care level.

In China, many patients at large hospitals in major cities can afford certain medications, and some are not price-sensitive; however, in the vast grassroots healthcare settings, price is a more significant consideration.

Academician Zhong Nanshan stated, “GSK is also considering how to use simple, low-cost medications to reach the grassroots level, thereby addressing the needs of primary-care patients, enhancing its corporate image, and expanding its market.”This collaboration will establish a network for the management and monitoring of patients at the primary care level in Guangdong Province, with the particular aim of ensuring that these patients receive appropriate treatment through this study.。”

After gaining experience in Guangzhou, it will be promoted nationwide.Furthermore, the significance of this collaborative project lies in fully leveraging big data analytics to enhance early disease detection, thereby enabling timely intervention and improving therapeutic outcomes. Meanwhile, by strengthening the integration and sharing of clinical and basic medical research data resources, it will boost the efficiency of translational medical research and its application, providing direction and practical approaches for the personalized treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.

For GSK, this collaboration serves a dual purpose. On one hand, it enables the company to gain a clear understanding of the current landscape of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma in China, conduct thorough market research, and facilitate the provision of more effective medications to the market. On the other hand, following the 2013 commercial bribery scandal, GSK needs to collaborate with medical teams to improve its corporate image, an objective that this partnership helps achieve.

Source: The Times Weekly; compiled by VCBeat.