top student at medical school

“Brother Dong Ning, a relative from our hometown came to the outpatient clinic. I took him to find the clinic, so we were a little late.”

"Have President Yao and the others already rested?" Fang Ziye asked Dong Ning apologetically.

However, Fang Ziye wasn't making excuses; a relative from his hometown had genuinely come to visit him. She was his second aunt, who was a distant relative.

My second aunt's father was Fang Ziye's maternal grandfather's brother. She married a little further away, but I could still see her when I went to visit my maternal grandfather's family for the New Year. The one who was sick was my second aunt's granddaughter, who was about ten years old.

The little girl's illness wasn't orthopedic, but Fang Ziye still gave her a fairly detailed examination and then took her aunt and 'cousin' to the general surgery department.

Without specific test results, it's difficult to speculate on the exact situation, but it's likely a problem with the digestive tract.

This relative isn't exactly close, but they're not too far either.

……

Dong Ning replied politely, "Professor Fang, it's alright. We're all adults! It's normal to have relatives or friends."

"Actually, the data here has already been shown to Hikma's engineer, Niel, who said that our generic improved drug is more effective and sensitive than the existing vancomycin!"

"Of course, we also provide quite detailed data on the past."

"Professor Fang, as you know, vancomycin was isolated from soil samples by Eli Lilly and Company in the United States in 1950 and was used clinically in 1956 by penicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus."

"But after the 1980s, Eli Lilly stopped producing the original drug. The current vancomycin is all 'generic drugs'. The more advanced generic drug companies are mainly Pfizer, which acquired Hospira and obtained the vancomycin generic drug business!"

"Elilly sold the vancomycin brand rights to Philips (now Pfizer) in 2005, but remains the holder of the process patents."

"Currently, other companies' vancomycin products are all variants or generics. Hikma is the largest pharmaceutical company in the UK and also has its own original drug business."

"If it weren't for the fact that our vancomycin preparation this time is more than 40% more effective than those of Eli Lilly and Pfizer, Hikma might not have been willing to come and discuss things with us in detail."

"Professor Fang, there's another piece of background information we need to understand: pharmaceuticals are the UK's largest export category!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Ziye asked, "Brother Dong, if I remember correctly, isn't Zhejiang Pharmaceutical Group one of the major suppliers of raw materials for vancomycin in China?"

“Yes!” Dong Ning nodded. “Our Zhejiang Provincial Pharmaceutical Company says they supply 25 percent of the global market, which is really impressive.”

"Of course, we have also contacted Zhejiang Provincial Medical Sciences."

"As the saying goes, business is all about profit. If we can absorb all these raw materials, they can save a lot on transportation costs, so we can get the raw materials from Zhejiang Pharmaceutical at a lower price!"

“The vancomycin raw material business of Zhejiang Provincial Pharmaceutical is only one of their businesses.”

"This time, Dr. Liu from Zhejiang Provincial Medical Products also came to our laboratory."

Chinese pharmaceutical companies are mostly engaged in generic drug and raw material businesses. It's not that these companies don't want to develop original drugs and pursue higher profits, but rather that they can't.

Currently, under Fang Ziye's leadership, the goal is to make generic drugs more effective than original drugs, which will result in a huge market share.

Fang Ziye doesn't need to worry about how to sell it; he just needs to produce the product, which is essentially the technical aspect.

"Oxford University in the UK is really impressive. They used CRISPR gene editing to modify the structure of vancomycin (2017 Nature) to enhance its killing power against VanA-resistant bacteria."

"Imperial College London has obtained a patent for encapsulating vancomycin in nanoliposomes," Dong Ning added.

Fang Ziye nodded slightly: "Britain is a developed country, and pharmaceuticals are their advantageous industry. When negotiating with them, we will definitely be at a significant disadvantage."

"Everything is difficult at the beginning. We shouldn't think about taking advantage of others. The most important thing is to take the first step. Even if it costs money to open up the market, it's a good thing."

“I don’t understand these business matters, so I can only leave them to professionals to handle. This time, I mainly discussed the efficacy of generic drugs with the technical engineers from Hikma.”

"Would the engineer from Niel be willing to meet with me outside of work hours?" Fang Ziye asked.

Upon hearing this, Dong Ning's eyes immediately lit up: "Of course I'm willing, Professor Fang."

"You have no idea, this engineer from Niel almost became a huge fan of yours after hearing about your resume."

"He told me that his biggest wish was to become a doctor, but unfortunately, fate played a trick on him, and now he is a pharmaceutical researcher."

"The engineer from Niel said he admires the person most for daring to challenge unknown diseases and succeeding!"

Fang Ziye has never been to the UK, but he has studied in the US.

During his studies abroad, Fang Ziye did receive preferential treatment, which was so great that he was asked to give up his citizenship and formally join a laboratory in the United States. He was even offered a special position as a consultant for the laboratory.

Fang Ziye did not agree, so the laboratory did not allow Fang Ziye to participate in core confidential work.

How should I put it, a place like the United States?

The advantage lies in "ability first"—if you have the ability, many people will follow and admire you. But the disadvantage is the same.

If you have no ability, then even if you die on the roadside, no one may pity you.

When you're doing a professional job, if you're not capable enough, other team members will ridicule you, or even think you're not fit to work there and will kick you out.

Absolute strength is something that is ingrained in someone's very bones.

In China, there is also a certain degree of power dynamics, but the 'personal relationships' that go beyond individual ability are more prominent than in other countries.

Sometimes, even if you have the ability, there may not be a smooth path to success left for you.

Fang Ziye quickly spotted the engineer named Niall, who was tall, fair-skinned, and looked quite elegant and refined. He was dressed in a suit and tie, and wore a light perfume, which perfectly matched the British gentleman's demeanor.

On the other hand, Fang Ziye's side was not so formal.

After shaking hands with Nier, Dr. Liu, and others, Fang Ziye said apologetically, "Engineer Nier, I personally prefer casual wear, as it gives me more freedom when seeing patients and performing surgeries."

Niall smiled politely and gracefully: "Of course, a top surgeon like Professor Fang has absolute freedom to dress as he pleases."

"Any factor that could affect the quality of your treatment should give way to your work."

"It's not just limited to clothing." "By the way, Professor Fang, I heard from Dr. Liu and Engineer Yao Guang that you have developed treatments for many new diseases. Would it be convenient for me to see these surgical videos?"

"Professor Fang, I hope this isn't too presumptuous a suggestion. After all, I really wanted to become a professional doctor, although I wasn't able to achieve that goal. But one of my little hobbies is watching incredible surgeries!"

Niall's expression is very direct and entirely based on his own preferences.

Perhaps he has already acknowledged the efficacy of generic vancomycin, and what he is doing now is merely 'social niceties' outside of professional discussions!
This suggestion is actually a bit impolite.

Fang Ziye joked, "Of course you can. If you'd like, Engineer Nair, you can register as a member of our Chinese Medical Association. After logging in with your account and password, you can download some surgical procedures from our official website."

"In the future, downloading and watching instructional surgeries may be charged."

Niall didn't find the suggestion strange at all: "Professor Fang, is this the official website of the Chinese Medical Association?"

Seeing that Nair was so straightforward, Fang Ziye said, "Nair, my suggestion just now was just a joke. The surgical videos I recorded are for teaching purposes, and anyone who wants to watch and learn can watch them."

"No need to pay. It might be a bit troublesome to register if you don't have a phone number from China."

"I can provide you with an account and password, which already contains the materials you purchased. You can download them and watch them at your leisure."

"What we should be discussing now is the efficacy of the generic drugs we are developing."

"Nair engineer, after reviewing our data, do you think there are any areas that need correction?" Fang Ziye then got down to business.

Niel shook his head slightly and said politely, "Professor Fang, you are definitely a more professional scientific researcher than I am. The data, processes, and diagrams you presented are more accurate than anything I could show you."

"Unsurprisingly, the materials your team prepared for me exceeded our expectations and even seemed unbelievable."

"However, we will need to conduct multiple reviews after we return. We must be able to replicate the corresponding drug manufacturing process multiple times before we can determine the final efficacy of this drug."

"Of course, Professor Fang, you will need to send members of your team to personally operate and teach the core processes or key patents involved..."

"However, our team still found five rather puzzling points in this data, and we hope Professor Fang can analyze them." Niall's statement was rather cryptic.

Niall then pointed out five points, three of which were errors in expression, and the other two were indeed rather basic typos.

After patiently handling and explaining everything, Fang Ziye felt very embarrassed: "Nair, I'm very sorry, this was our mistake."

"The main problem is that there is too much and too much complex data, so we failed to discover it in time."

"To express my apologies, I would like to invite you to dinner. I wonder if I might be so fortunate?"

Fang Ziye genuinely disliked communicating and exchanging ideas in English, but since Nier didn't understand Chinese, he had no choice but to use English.

“(Of course!) Sure!” Niall replied with certainty.

The communication went quite smoothly, which was somewhat unexpected for Fang Ziye.

The engineers from Niel came here only to verify the efficacy of the generic drug. As for how the patents should be allocated and how the market should be divided, those are things to be dealt with later.

This time, Fang Ziye simply wanted to obtain the 'patent' authorization from the company that owned Niel, so that they could legally produce the product and even have some independent sales rights.

For Cima, even if it doesn't come to occupy the Chinese market, it has better vancomycin to seize other markets and can also beat Pfizer in the United States.

If C-MER has a better-quality drug and still can't beat Pfizer, then C-MER might as well quit playing in the industry.

……

Niall places great importance on dining etiquette, handling cutlery with care.

However, Neil did not hide his admiration for Fang Ziye, and asked him many questions about the details of Fang Ziye's previous research.

When Fang Ziye mentioned some key points, Nier couldn't help but clap his hands in praise!

"Professor Fang, you are truly a medical beacon sent by God, or at least one of the saints in the medical field."

“Of all the medical geniuses in the world, you must be one of the most brilliant,” Niall said.

The world is vast, and the medical field is also quite broad. While Fang Ziye's achievements are certainly dazzling, they haven't yet reached the point where others see Fang Ziye as a mere speck in the clear sky.

In the present world, there are also many teams in other specialties that have reached the same level as Fang Ziye's team.

For example, clinical research projects such as animal heart transplantation into humans and the preparation of artificial blood vessels from animal blood vessels are of great clinical significance...

"Thank you for your praise. I was just lucky to discover these principles; they were always there," Fang Ziye said modestly.

Niel said, "Professor Fang, I heard from Engineer Yao Guang that you are also skilled in instrument improvement and research and development. For example, the miniature circulatory device that is currently very popular in surgery and emergency medicine was developed under your leadership, Professor Fang?"

"Is the current patent authorization also handled by you, Professor Fang?"

"I wonder if Professor Fang would be interested in transferring the manufacturing process of this instrument to our company, CIMA? We will definitely offer a very reasonable price!"

"Professor Fang, as you know, the world is vast, and there are countless countries and regions that need this kind of miniature circulatory device."

"With China's current production capacity alone, the supply chain is still too narrow, and there are also issues such as subsequent maintenance and upkeep, which cannot be handled by a small company alone."

"Our company, CIMA, has a mature medical device R&D team, a mature market, and mature demand..."

Upon hearing this, Fang Ziye frowned and said, "Dear Niel, I have authorized the commercial operation of this micro-circulatory device to our domestic company, 'Guangbai Group.' If there are any commercial collaborations, your company should contact them in the UK."

"I am not involved in business. I only perform surgery, see my patients, and am only responsible for my patients and research."

"Only with undivided attention can a patient be cured."

Niall nodded and raised his wine glass: "Professor Fang, you must be a great professor. It would be a great fortune for any patient to be your patient."

"Your existence is a blessing to many people; the world is a brighter place because of you."

People from other countries also know how to be socially adept, and they're even more 'sweet' than others!
Fang Ziye clinked glasses with Nair and replied, "We all have the right, and should, to live happily and healthily..." (End of Chapter)