Lerica's new indications are approved in China to fill the gap in fibromyalgia treatment

Medical Network October 16th, October 15th, Pfizer China announced today that the State Drug Administration has officially approved Pfizer's new generation of calcium channel modulators - Lerica (Puri Bahrain) fibromyalgia indications Listing application. Therefore, Lerica has also become the leading treatment for fibromyalgia in China, which fills the gap in the treatment of this disease in China. It provides a basis for clinical treatment of fibromyalgia in China, and is also conducive to improving China. The degree of disease awareness of patients and clinicians.

Fibromyalgia is real, patients are not "no disease"

Fibromyalgia is a group of clinical syndromes with unknown etiology, generalized generalized pain and obvious physical discomfort. It is often accompanied by mental symptoms such as fatigue, sleep disturbance, morning stiffness and depression and anxiety. It is a rheumatology clinic. A very common disease ranks second in rheumatic diseases, second only to osteoarthritis (OA). Globally, the prevalence of fibromyalgia is 2%, and the prevalence of people in Hong Kong is 1%. It is estimated that there are about 14 million patients in China.

However, the diagnosis and treatment of fibromyalgia remains a challenge for both patients and clinicians. Studies have shown that patients often spend more than two years, with an average of 3.7 doctors to be diagnosed, and even some patients can be diagnosed after 10 years. In addition, the misdiagnosis rate of the first diagnosis of patients in China reached 87%. A survey from Peking University People's Hospital on the current knowledge of fibromyalgia in Chinese rheumatologists shows that only about one-third of physicians know the diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia developed by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) in 1990. Others have lower awareness rates such as treatment and pathogenesis; Chinese rheumatologists have significantly lower FMS awareness than UK and Southeast Asian countries. This also reflects that fibromyalgia is still a "freshly known" disease in China.

"In fact, fibromyalgia is a real disease, patients are not 'no disease,' and the World Health Organization (WHO) also lists it as an independent disease." How to diagnose fibromyalgia, director of the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital Professor Zeng Xiaofeng emphasized that “the clinical need is to first raise the awareness of medical staff on fibromyalgia. Patients with chronic pain in the body and multiple parts of the unexplained cause, accompanied by physical discomfort, fatigue, sleep disorders, morning stiffness and anxiety and depression, etc. When there is no objective evidence of organic disease in the physical examination or laboratory examination, it is necessary to be highly alert to the possibility of fibromyalgia. At this time, the doctor can refer to the 2016 American Rheumatology Association (ACR) diagnostic criteria based on the patient's main symptoms and signs. Increased diagnostic rate of fibromyalgia. In addition, the Filistin Rapid Screening Tool (FiRST) based on the patient questionnaire has been shown to be useful in screening patients with fibromyalgia to help clinically improve the rate of diagnosis of fibromyalgia."

The pathogenesis of fibromyalgia is gradually clear, and the treatment has achieved breakthrough progress.

In recent years, with the development of medical research, clinical understanding of fibromyalgia has made breakthrough progress. More and more pathological and imaging studies have confirmed that fibromyalgia is a central nervous system-related pain disorder, central sensitization is its main pathogenesis, and has a family genetic predisposition. In addition, environmental factors including acute trauma, special infectious diseases, and psychosocial factors of patients are risk factors that may be induced.

Although the pathogenesis of fibromyalgia is becoming clearer, drug therapy is an important treatment. However, clinically, non-steroidal drugs such as non-steroidal analgesics, opioids and antidepressants are the main treatments, and it is difficult to achieve "targeted" with great side effects. The mechanism of therapeutic drugs was approved to be listed as “zero”, which has caused fibromyalgia in China to be one of the most difficult chronic pain diseases. It is gratifying to note that with the approval of the Leroy Card Fibromyalgia indication, it has made a breakthrough in the treatment of fibromyalgia in China.

Professor Zeng Xiaofeng said: "Research shows that the therapeutic target of the central sensitization core of fibromyalgia is calcium ion channels. And Lerica reduces calcium by inhibiting α2-δ protein of voltage-dependent calcium channels in the central nervous system. Influx reduces the release of excitatory neurotransmitters such as glutamate, norepinephrine, and substance P, thereby effectively controlling and alleviating neuropathic pain, improving sleep, relieving fatigue, and improving quality of life. Good as a new generation of calcium channel modulators, Lerica is a first-line treatment for fibromyalgia recommended by mechanistic treatment and evidence-based medicine.