I had my first attack in 1999, when I was 32 years old, and was knocked out cold. I couldn’t move my hands and legs. I was overwhelmed by fatigue, which surprised me as I was a fit sportsman.
Dr Khairy is a former Taekwondo World Champion. His life changed completely when he suffered his first attack of multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease that attacks the central nervous system, and causes varying problems of numbness, fatigue, seizures, and problems with mobility and vision, among others.
Dr Khairy underwent experimental treatment, which halted some of his symptoms, but left him confined to a wheelchair. “This highlighted for me the need for a safe and effective treatment,” he said.
Did you know that...?
The symptoms of MS, and the course the illness takes, vary widely from person to person. Most people with MS initially are diagnosed with a relapsing-remitting or primary progressive form of the disease.
Living with MS is a challenge both for the person with the disease and their caretakers, but can affect their financial well-being, due to the costs of medical care and loss of productivity at work.
The average annual cost of MS per person is EUR 40,313, which is made up of direct medical costs, indirect costs, such as loss of productivity at work and informal care costs.2
Achievements in 2017
In 2017, Ocrevus has been approved for use in countries across North and South America, the Middle East, EU, as well as in Australia and Switzerland. Ocrevus is the first and only approved medicine for both relapsing and primary progressive forms of MS. It represents the beginning of a new era for the MS community. The medicine targets a specific type of immune cell considered a key contributor to the nerve damage that accompanies MS.
In addition to Ocrevus, we launched new medicines to treat bladder cancer and haemophilia. We are developing medicines in various disease areas, for example in oncology, neuroscience or infectious diseases.
137 million patients treated with our medicines in 2017
The patient number estimates how many treatments for specific diseases have been delivered in one year. It is based on the medicines sold and adjusted by average daily dose, treatment duration and compliance.
1. WHO. Human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs380/en/. Last accessed December 2016.
2. WHO, GLOBOCAN 2012. Estimated Cancer Incidence. Mortality and Prevalence Worldwide in 2012. Available at: http://globocan.iarc.fr/Pages/fact_sheets_population.aspx. Last accessed October 2016.