“Italy makes a great contribution to multiple sclerosis (Sm) research and the development of our treatments. Only for the studies of our products, interferon beta-1a, cladribine and the Btk inhibitor that is currently in phase III of experimentation, in recent years have been more than 22 clinical studies activated in Italy which involved about 5 thousand patients. Innovation is fundamental and, to go beyond the drug, we are also committed to digital solutions to bring doctor and patient closer “. Thus Jan Kirsten, president and managing director of Healthcare Merck Italia, during a event that recently brought together Italian neurologists in Baveno (Verbano Cusio Ossola) for a comparison on new therapeutic paradigms and on the value of digital innovation, in the light of real world experiences, to respond to the unsatisfied needs of the patient with MS. ‘Echo in Ms’ the title of the event, promoted by Merck Italia.
At the end of 2021 – a note recalls – in Italy there were 133 thousand people with Sm, a neurodegenerative disease which is one of the main causes of disability between the ages of 20-40. Each year there are 3,600 new diagnoses involving an average of thirty-year-olds; 3 out of 4 patients are women and between 5-7% are boys under 18.
Looking back at the major milestones of the company’s commitment and investment over the past 25 years “to improve the lives” of MS patients, Kirsten recalls that “in 1998 we introduced an injection druga great innovation, and in 2019 cladribine, an oral druga new way of approaching therapy for patients because it comes administered in the first 2 years over the course of 2 weeks of each year and allows, in the third and fourth year, not to have to resort to further administration. So the patient is practically free from disease, and this completely changes the lives of our patients “. In addition to cladribine” which improves the patient’s quality of life, freeing him for years from the disease – he adds – currently we have a Btk (Bruton-tyrosine-kinase) inhibitor in phase III study, which is the next generation of drugs for this disease, which will hit the market in the next few years. “
“Innovation is fundamental in the field of multiple sclerosis and beyond – continues Kirsten – We are very committed to drug development, but we have chosen a more holistic approach and invested in the ability to bring clinicians and patients closer, improving the therapeutic path. so developed a service called ‘virtual nurse’, to support patients who use our self-administration devices even remotely. We then developed a virtual network, called Mia, where doctors can exchange their knowledge. With apps and digital solutions we try to improve the patient’s quality of life and therapeutic path “.
Technology has done a lot for the patient. “Monitoring at home with tools such as Apps is recent – observes Mario Alberto Battaglia, president of the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Association (Aism) and its Foundation (Fism), speaking at the event – We had made an estimate, in 2015, that these digital technologies would arrive in 2025. Covid has made us anticipate the times. The Apps are certainly useful for the patient’s quality of life, providing monitoring data and support for MS treatment. The problem will be to have a container with all this information, such as the Electronic Dossier. Only a few regions are moving. In reality, these data will also have to be integrated with the Disease Register because only in this way will they be useful for the patient, the doctor, public health and even research “.
