A doctor who travels through two eras

Faced with the boss's wicked idea, the senior executive in charge of intelligence hesitated and said:

"Boss, after our investigation, we found that Xiangjiang Lingnan Pharmaceutical has a complicated background. They previously invented the anti-tuberculosis drug Etoposide Tablets, which achieved great success."

Furthermore, Lingnan Pharmaceuticals has very close cooperative relationships with Anthony Pharmaceuticals and Viter Pharmaceuticals of the United Kingdom. The three companies hold shares in each other and are allies, so they cannot be touched in the short term.

Oh~~~
Everyone suddenly realized why this little-known Hong Kong company had suddenly risen to prominence; it turned out that it was being supported by two major medical academic giants.

Even Scott, a bigwig in the pharmaceutical industry, was somewhat surprised:
"Anthony Witt? Is he the president and vice president of the International Federation for the Prevention of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease?"

"Yes, Professor Anthony is also the vice president of Massachusetts General Hospital and an internationally renowned pulmonologist. Professor Witt is also the dean of University College London Medical School, and streptomycin was invented by his team."

The executives immediately realized that this was not a good time to take action.

If it were just two ordinary doctors, it would be easier for a pharmaceutical company to manage them.

However, if these two doctors have actually formed an "academic clique," owning their own pharmaceutical companies and having extensive connections with other conglomerates, then that can be considered "capital" that can be put on the table.

It's not impossible for capital to go to war, but the cost would be enormous, and the outcome would be uncertain.

Scott said helplessly:
"The acquisition is still negotiable, it's just a matter of asking for a higher price. If we can get the patents for these three antibiotics, they will become our biggest core products, with unlimited potential for profit."

In addition, we can't just sit idly by and wait for our fate. At worst, we can circumvent the patents of Lingnan medicine.

For example, we can design products or technologies with similar functions but without infringement, such as adjusting the drug crystal form, changing the preparation process, or selecting materials not covered by patents. There are always ways.

"Professor Hoffmann, you've been conducting research for a week, completing all the necessary tests and experiments. Now tell me, can you invent a similar new antibiotic?"

In the pharmaceutical industry, it is actually very difficult to protect one's patent rights and then use a monopoly to make a fortune.

For example, you may invent cefotaxime and apply for a patent, but other pharmaceutical companies can easily adjust some molecular structures or other structures based on the drug you invented.

Then other drugs of the same type were invented, such as cefotiam, cefamandole, cefaclor, etc.

This is also a common technique used by pharmaceutical companies.

Just like when you invented omeprazole, other pharmaceutical companies immediately launched lansoprazole, pantoprazole, rabeprazole, etc. to compete with you for business.

You invented sildenafil, and other pharmaceutical companies immediately followed suit by launching tadalafil, uracil, avanafil, and so on.

But Professor Hoffman hesitated and didn't dare to make a promise.

Scott was immediately puzzled: "What? You can't prevent it? No way, you're a top international pharmaceutical expert."

Professor Hoffman knew he couldn't avoid it, so rather than taking the blame later, he decided to be frank from the start.

"General Manager, it's like this: we have figured out the specific components of the three antibiotics from Hong Kong. Given enough time, it won't be difficult to replicate similar antibiotics."

However, the difficulty lies in mass production.

I don't know how Xiangjiang Lingnantang produces these medicines, but I suspect they must have advanced production lines and processes unknown to us, which are incomparable to our artificial cultivation methods.

If Lin Sanqi heard this, he would definitely give Professor Hoffman a thumbs up; he truly deserves to be called a top pharmaceutical expert.

Because Baoan Pharmaceutical Factory's raw material plant uses cutting-edge technology from the 21st century, all raw materials are cultured using a biopharmaceutical perfusion system.

For example, cefuroxime is produced in a specific culture medium using microbial fermentation technology, and mass-produced on a production line to serve as a raw material.

Such cephalosporin raw materials are very cheap. For example, Zibo Kenfu Pharmaceutical previously only had one million yuan per ton.

In the 1960s, the pharmaceutical industry was limited by production technology and outdated production lines, and cephalosporins could only be artificially cultured using agarose medium, which was quite costly.

Professor Hoffman then had his assistant hand over a document to the Pfizer executives, casually picking up a box of antibiotics and saying:

"Based on our calculations, if we wanted to produce something similar to cefuroxime, just one box of this medicine would cost us at least $100."

Converted to Hong Kong dollars, it would be about 556 yuan per box, while Lingnan Pharmaceutical's current retail price is only 20 Hong Kong dollars, so the cost would be even lower.

Have you considered this question: with a cost difference of over 30 times between our cephalosporins and those from Hong Kong, what market competitiveness do American pharmaceutical companies have left?

hiss~~~
Pfizer executives all felt a pang of pain upon hearing this.

If you can't acquire it and you can't imitate it, then you're just watching this piece of fat meat with no way to get a bite out of it.
This is worse than killing the capitalists. The same scene unfolded in pharmaceutical companies all over the world. After commercial spies "smuggled" three antibiotics to various countries, everyone secretly wanted to copy them.

Without exception, the results showed that imitation was easy, but mass production was too difficult, and even if forced to produce, the product would not be competitive.

Hong Kong, Lingnan Hospital.

Lin Sanqi is listening to a report from Wang Jin, the head of Fengtang:

"Boss, based on our current observations, we're seeing more and more familiar faces coming to the hospital to get their prescriptions every day. It used to be quite a few white people queuing up for treatment on their own, but things have changed recently."

Some people hire local Hong Kong triads not to fight or fight for territory, but to act as smugglers to queue up at hospitals to buy medicine.

These gang members come in without asking about the doctor's condition; they immediately ask how many boxes of cephalosporin and azithromycin they want. It's very easy to identify them.

Lin Sanqi was delighted to hear this; it was all something he was happy to see.

"So, what is the ratio of actual patients to parallel traders now?"

Wang Jin thought for a moment and said:

"The situation is not optimistic. Now, parallel traders make up the majority of patients and are taking up a large number of medical appointment slots. This has caused Hong Kong residents to complain and demand that we take care of these triad members."

In the 1960s, medical treatment in Hong Kong did not require real names; you could simply write "Zhang San" or "Li Si" on your medical record.

So these smugglers come once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Each time, they obediently queue up, don't make a fuss, take the medicine and leave. The hospital security guards can't interfere.

Those who come are all gods of wealth, why interfere?
At this moment, Wang Jin took out a pair of binoculars and handed them to Lin Sanqi:

"Boss, come and take a look. It's just north of the hospital, at the foot of Kingsbury Mountain. That area has now become a hub for smugglers."

"Oh?"

Lin Sanqi became interested, picked up the binoculars, and looked towards the deserted corners at the foot of the mountain.

Sure enough, a crowd had gathered at the foot of the mountain, and there was clearly a person in charge sitting on a small stool in the middle.

After picking up the medicine from the hospital, the smugglers would walk along the hospital wall to the foot of Mount Jing Shi Bo, hand over the medicine to this group of people, and exchange money for goods.

Lin Sanqi almost burst out laughing when she thought of news from another time and space.

At several border crossings between mainland China and Hong Kong, there are groups of smugglers who carry goods such as milk powder and electronic products across the border from Hong Kong every day.

After passing through customs, someone on the mainland will meet them. Anyway, whether it's a can of milk powder or a mobile phone, it's all about cash on delivery. The smugglers earn their money by charging a commission per person.

This is where Lin Sanqi got his inspiration for encouraging smuggling.

However, a hospital's daily shipment volume is always limited, so the next phase of development involves pharmacies all over Hong Kong.

All that's left is to wait for the fish to take the bait.

Lin Sanqi does not intend to hand over the sales rights to Anthony Pharmaceutical Company and Viter Pharmaceutical Company this time.

Even if the two sides can continue to cooperate based on their good relationship, they will have to negotiate on a country-by-country basis, instead of selling in a package deal based on continents.

Initially, Lin Sanqi had no say in the anti-tuberculosis drug market, not even in the basic pricing, so he could only earn a small fee for his hard work.

Now, he wants to try eating at the table.

"By the way, how's it going with the recruitment of a group of pharmacy sales, finance, and warehousing staff I asked you to do?"

If Lingnantang wants to open a chain of pharmacies, the sales staff will definitely need to be handsome men and beautiful women. Those veterans who look fierce are not suitable, or they will scare away the customers.

Wang Jin quickly replied:
"Boss, recruitment is underway in Tiu Keng Leng and Tiger Rock. Would you like to go and take a look?"

Tiu Keng Leng and Tiger Rock Village are the areas with the most mainlanders who fled to Hong Kong and settled in "rooftop wooden houses," which Lin Sanqi was quite curious about:

"Let's go take a look." (End of Chapter)