A Big Launch

Lately, Pharmaceuticals are also feeling the pinch. New drug launch were hard to come by, and the ones which did see the light of day had plenty of back-end investment behind it. Rarely are these "blockbusters", and oftentimes the niche drugs were left behind.

Last night, the MSH Members were invited to attend a dinner launch of a new monocloncal antibody, Brentuximab. Touted to the the next best thing as far as Hodgkin's Lymphoma is concerned, the company behind it, Takeda were putting plenty of effort for the launch. A foreign speaker was invited to give her insight on the new drug, and we were treated to a sumptuous dinner.

There was some fanfare at the launch as well, but everybody were a bit cagey when we talked about the costing. It would be a bomb and beyond most of the average patient could afford. With the tightening of the budget and the insurance company putting more scrutiny on the patient claims, the cost would be a barrier for this - otherwise sound therapeutic agent - to penetrate the scene. The cost is even beyond your typical SJMC patient.

How do we solve this issue? A patient support or access program would be needed, tapping into the generosity of the Pharmaceutical industry so that our patients could benefit from such an advancement. It also meant that those recieving the drug had to be pre-selected, and this pre-selection process may not be clear cut.

Therefore, events such as these including sharing of the experience of those lucky enough to have been able to use the drug is vital. And this is going to be the pattern in the future. Expensive, but effective drug catering for the niche market. Unfortunately this would be typical in my field. For without the investments of the "Big Pharma" we would not be able to enjoy some downstream benefit. I was sure that if the company were to open up an access program, the cost must be recouped from their operation somewhere else - either a different arm of their business or their operations abroad in developed market.

The New iPad

It's becoming almost a tradition now. Anita's birthday followed by Apple announcement. A birthday present for her, followed by a present for me! And this year's announcement did not show anything unexpected although there are three things worth mentioning.

First, the new camera for the iPhone. On the new iPhone 6S, Apple finally caught up with the competitors in terms of photo resolution was concerned. I was never that bothered with megapixels, but to see the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge camera trumping the iPhone hinted that something need to be done.

The new snapper shipped with a 12MP sensor. But it wasn't just the size of the sensors, it's the technology behind it, the Apple secret sauce. Being an avid photographer, I value the mobility and simplicity of the smartphone camera very much. I have toiled with the latest iPhone and Samsung's offerings as well as the Lumia 940 as well as the BlackBerry Z10 which camera was often under appreciated.

So far, the Samsung was on top. Let's see how Apple upped its game.

The second, was the iPad Pro. I have always felt that eventually a desktop-sized tablet would be in the market. Samsung had the 10.9 inch tablet, so was the Nexus series. And there are plenty of use-case scenario, coupled with the dedicated stylus - sorry, Apple Pencil - it could prove very useful in my clinic and for photo editing.

The keyboard was also a welcomed addition as since I had been using a keyboard with my tablet, it had transformed my productivity. Especially useful for attending conference although I doubt that the iPad Pro is mobile. At least it has a built-in LTE chip.

Last point was Apple TV. I had been using it for the last 4 years using a US account. I used it to watch the latest miniseries as well as movies. The latest Apple TV looked at disrupting the console market with many games and a Wii-like controller making playing social games enjoyable. You can also use your iPhone and iPad Touch as controller as well to join in. This is going to be big as you could download games on line from the App Store with close integration with the rest of Apple ecology.

All in all, it was one of those announcements well worth staying up for. I was expecting a new Mac Mini, but the new Apple TV might just beat that. No new standard iPad to replace the Air 2. But Anita had already asked me to get her the new iPad Mini. But before that, let's see how much of an upgrade the new WatchOS was going to be. It would certainly opened up the real potential of the watch.

The Hospital Next Door

Pantai Hospital next door to my apartment had undergone a najor renovation in the past year. And the fruits of the work were there to see with the opening of the new outpatient building.

On the ground floor, there were a number of shops and cafe being opened. Enough for us to go if we needed a quick bite.

We had the chance to explore the place when Yat and Syahril was at the hospital. There was the usual Starbucks and Subway, added to that was Secret Recipe and PappaRich, enough to keep me going. There was also a small Borders bookstore as well as a small mini mart.

Shame that they were opened until late. It was closed by 8 pm, although it opened early in the morning. Well worth a mention actually since it was only a five minutes walk from my door ....

Going Multifocal

For the last year and a half, I have been strugling to read with my glasses on. I had to take them off to read small prints, look at microscope and lately even to find veins to cannulate. It was getting ridiculous!

Enough was enough. I went to get a pair of new glasses - the last prescription was from 2009!

After some proper eye testing, it was decided that it would best for me to go bifocal. But having a big magnifying glass smack at the bottom of my glasses would look silly. So, we went multifocal.

I picked up the new glasses today and I must say, it had been a dizzying experience. I had to get used to reading while gazing down and looking up to look far. Rather unnatural. I also had to read straight onto the paper rather than peering at the corner of my eyes. It felt dyslexic if I do so since the letters suddenly became magnified at certain angle or appeared out of focus.

And the worse thing was, I couldn't slide down on the sofa anymore since if I do so, I had to strain my neck to focus at the TV.

The glass itself though was fantastic. I went for high index since my refraction error was quite high. It was also supposed to dim itself in bright sunlight. Well, I better get used to it. It would be something new tomorrow having to drive wearing them. Best to keep the old pair with me in the car along the ride.

Congrats Yat and Syahril

My old housemate had been blessed with their fourth child - first daughter - yesterday, and conveniently it was at the hospital right next to the apartment. Both mother and daughter were doing handsomely well - although the same cannot be said about the Dad :)

Yat had some labour pains Sunday and came over to the labour ward, only to return after a couple of hours, but in the evening, her water broke and the contractions were coming thick and fast. A quick midnight dash to the hospital ensued.

Anita was waiting for them to call when they arrived but she fell asleep by the windows. We got the news that the epidural was already up the next morning, and after breakfast, Anita and myself joined Syahril for breakfast at the hospital.

Yat delivered just after lunch and we returned again to visit later in the evening. The baby was fast asleep, unliked Idlan and Irfan when they were born - incidentally at the same ward.

They would likely stay for another day at least, and will definitely visit them again after work today. After all it was only a 5 minutes walk next door.