1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 637: Damn, I’m going to bleed again!
Since the 14s, China has gradually become a hub for investment and world manufacturing. On the one hand, no one can ignore this super potential market with a population of billion; on the other hand, it is due to China's current tear-jerkingly low labor and resource costs.

But the problem is that not everyone is willing to sell their own labor so cheaply.

As a reborn person, Yang Mo is very clear about the exaggerated difference in comprehensive labor costs between China and Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and even the four little tigers. He is also very clear that the real psychological bottom line of these foreign investors in many dimensions is much higher than what the Chinese people think... The only difference lies in whether it is worth it in a horizontal comparison.

Therefore, since Texas has taken the lead in becoming one of the few regions in the country with a partial manufacturing base after three years of unremitting efforts, and he has the chips in his hands that are enough to attract these island pharmaceutical companies, if he does not strive for more benefits and build a higher framework for the lucrative industry such as CXO from the beginning, he will simply not have the face to face his Chinese identity and the little conscience he has left.

He knew very well that under the anchoring effect, if many things in this world did not go well at the beginning, it would be difficult to correct them in the future without using the phrase "twice the effort for half the result".

As Yang Mo's woman, Miss Mu certainly knows what her man thinks on certain things.

Although Miss Mu looks gentle and refined, she is actually more radical than Yang Mo.

Therefore, it was actually her decision to tentatively and quickly push the cooperation framework of the CXO industry to the CRDMO and CTDMO models in one go... Yang Mo has always been result-oriented and is also a person who knows how to delegate power. Since she was sent to connect with these island pharmaceutical companies, she has the authority to define the framework.

………………

"In the current environment, it is of great benefit to both parties to come together at once to deeply bundle the industrial clusters in the field of Western clinical medicine through the CRDMO and CTDMO models."

Miss Mu looked at Suzuki Jiken and others with a smile, her tone full of confidence.

"The most critical link in the development of innovative drugs is drug discovery. In this regard, you have an absolute advantage... After all, although there are only a few researchers involved in drug discovery, they are all truly high-end talents, and most of them are doctoral-level talents."

"Considering China's national conditions, the companies you are in are all well-known companies that have been immersed in the pharmaceutical industry for more than ten years or even decades. They not only have a rich talent pool, but also have a number of well-known medical universities in the island countries to provide strong scientific research support,"

"Therefore, I can say without hesitation that even if we adopt the CRDMO model, at least in the next 30 years, in key links such as target confirmation and lead compounds, your scientific researchers will still be the main force of technology, and our personnel will at best play the role of students and assistants... And you can rest assured that we will fully respect your autonomy in this link."

Suzuki Jiken smiled slightly complacently and didn't take the words seriously.

Even if Miss Mu didn't emphasize it, they wouldn't worry about anything going wrong in this link... The current shortage of high-end professional talent in China is a fact that no one can deny, and China has at least a 20 to 30 year technological gap with the current island countries in the field of original Western medicine. Adding the two together, they don't have to worry about problems such as technological overtaking or losing scientific research leadership.

Therefore, he understood very well that what Miss Mu said was just an opening remark commonly used in negotiations to reduce the opponent's resistance. The real focus was on what she was going to say later.

As expected, seeing the relaxed expression of reserve on everyone's face, Mu Liya laughed and said, "Although the most advanced core researchers are irreplaceable, given your country's high labor costs and the still volatile stock market... I personally think that, except for the drug discovery stage, contracting all the remaining R&D stages to pharmaceutical outsourcing companies in the form of industrial cooperation is a wise choice!"

When they heard the words "labor costs" and "stock market", everyone's faces suddenly became stiff.

As we all know, due to the adoption of a technology innovation-driven strategy, international pharmaceutical companies have always been money-making giants - in addition to normal drug sales, their most important source of funds actually comes from the capital market, especially the stock market.

Therefore, the rise and fall of stock prices is almost equivalent to the safety of their aortas.

The terrible thing is that since the year before last, the island nation’s stock market has been falling at a rate that is close to collapse. Even pharmaceutical stocks, which have been the strongest in the face of adversity, have been in a shaky state since the second half of last year... This is due to the bad environment, but it is also due to the involvement of European and American capital.

This situation became more and more obvious after the island nation's medical expenditure budget was raised to 22 trillion yen.

In order to get more fat, it is easy to imagine that the next focus of European and American capital will be the island country's pharmaceutical sector.

As veterans of the capital market and stock market, Suzuki Jiken and others naturally knew that they would not be able to get any good results from European and American capital by simply circulating funds and shuffling accounts. Even if they were caught by the other party by accident, the stock price would immediately plummet.

Therefore, it is extremely important for them to hand in a brilliant financial statement and give those people a slap in the face.

But an eye-catching financial statement is not just about good sales performance; the profit growth curve is the key... Correspondingly, how to further reduce costs has become one of the most important factors.

Unfortunately, the island country with a per capita GDP of 2.89 US dollars has always been known for its high labor costs. Even the salary level of ordinary workers has reached 49.2 yen per year (1991), let alone the pharmaceutical industry, which is a gathering place of white-collar and gold-collar workers?

So, when Miss Mu started talking about "labor costs", she really hit the sore spot for them.

Seeing this, Mu Liya smiled slightly and said, "In fact, the second step of new drug development, that is, the preclinical research stage, does not require particularly high-end talents to discover new things. It only requires the new directions and inferred contents discovered in the first step to be verified and parameters determined through experiments."

"For this kind of work, ordinary master's students or even undergraduates with a good professional foundation can be competent (I don't mean to belittle them, but this part really only requires quantity and satisfaction);"

"If this link is placed in your country, even if it is contracted to a pharmaceutical outsourcing company in your country, it will cost at least 1 million yen based on the shortest one-year period, right?"

"This is just a new drug, and this is just an estimate based on the most optimistic scenario."

“What if there are 10 new drugs?”

“What if the preclinical studies for these new drugs take two or even three years instead of one year?”

"What if the preclinical research of these new drugs does not go smoothly and is ultimately confirmed to be in the wrong direction and not marketable? Or if our competitors develop similar drugs before us, and we need to cut the project short?"

"It might not have mattered a few years ago to include such a large expense in the sunk cost, but now... does the situation allow it?"

No one was in the mood to care about the concerned yet slightly teasing smile on the lips of the beautiful woman in front of them. They all felt heavy in their hearts, and some even started to silently calculate numbers with grim expressions.

It is difficult to calculate the accounts in detail, but for all large pharmaceutical companies, the number of new drug projects under development each year is no less than three digits, and at least 90% of these projects will eventually be cut in half. Therefore, for large pharmaceutical companies, the cost of preclinical research itself may not be too large, but the sunk costs generated are the largest among all R&D links.

Seeing this, Mu Liya pursed her lips and said, "But as for us in Texas, I dare not say anything else, but we have actively communicated with various regions and universities to coordinate a large number of professional college students and professionals. So I personally think that you don't need to worry too much about the progress of research and development... If it really doesn't work, you can dispatch some experienced technical management talents to guide us. After all, it's a joint venture."

"The key point is that our Chinese labor costs are much lower than your country's!"

"Even though we also believe in the principle of high pay for high work, and even though the average wage level in Texas is relatively high in the north, the preclinical research that takes 1 million yen in your country can be completed in Texas with only 150 million RMB (1:17.7)... With a 4-fold difference in labor costs and quality assurance, I'm sure the financial statements won't be very bad, right?"

Noticing that some people in the room frowned slightly, Mu Liya emphasized her voice a little: "More importantly, college students in China are already scarce. In the northern region, apart from Dezhou, only the capital and Tianjin can coordinate enough professionals in a short period of time to ensure the simultaneous preclinical research of dozens of new drugs... But considering other conditions, I personally think that Dezhou is the first choice."

After hearing the hidden meaning in Miss Mu's words, the people who were originally frowning because the salary offered by the other party was at least twice as high as that in other regions, immediately calmed down.

An objective fact is that although the pharmaceutical industry in Guangzhou is very famous, generally speaking, the pharmaceutical industry in the northern region, especially in North China, is the largest and most fully-equipped region in the country.

Therefore, today when the industrial manufacturing cooperation framework of Shandong, Henan and Hebei has officially begun to link up, Miss Mu is not bragging when she says that Texas can coordinate a sufficient number of college students and professionals... But this may not be the case in other regions. After all, by then, the number of new drug projects that need to be undertaken at the same time will not be one or two, but at least dozens or even hundreds.

Therefore, what Miss Mu said just now was actually a reminder for these people not to lose the watermelon to pick up sesame seeds...The cooperation between the two parties this time is not limited to the CXO field of Western medicine clinical drugs.

Seeing everyone hesitated slightly, then nodded slightly one by one, indicating that they agreed with Miss Mu's statement, Mu Liya breathed a sigh of relief.

Taking over the preclinical laboratory business, and at such a high salary standard, is of great significance to Texas.

On the one hand, Texas can have an opportunity to quickly learn and accumulate experience in drug research and development. Once the experience has accumulated to a certain level, the local industry can begin to transform toward an R&D and innovation-driven strategy.

On the other hand, as Texas’ benchmark effect in the northern region is becoming more and more obvious, significantly raising the wage standards for CXO staff can indirectly drive up the wage levels of other local industries; it may even force these companies to increase the added value of their products through various means, accelerate technological iteration and branding...With the arrival of the wave of people going to sea, brain drain has become an issue that many northern regions, including Texas, must pay attention to. If you want to retain these talents or even attract foreign talents, high wages are an indispensable basic condition.

Of course, since a large number of animals are needed in the preclinical experiments, some special animal breeding industries and companies that specialize in taking care of these experimental animals can be incubated, which is like reaping the benefits while hunting rabbits.

"We are all old friends. Believe me, we will not let you down by cooperating to build a CRDMO industry cluster in Texas."

"Let's not talk about anything else. In terms of clinical research alone, Texas has a unique advantage." Miss Mu's tone became more and more confident: "In other countries and regions, the clinical research process takes 4 to 7 years. On the one hand, it is due to legal regulations, but more importantly, it is limited by the small number of volunteers and the many disputes and risks involved."

"But in our region, the CRDMO model allows us to cut corners to a large extent."

"Firstly, our Dahua company has very good relationships with the masses at the grassroots level in rural areas. We can easily mobilize the masses and find enough volunteers for the new drug on the premise of providing sufficient compensation."

"We are all in this industry, and we should know what it means to have a sufficient number of volunteers."

"The most common problem in Phase I, II and III clinical studies of new drugs is that the dosage needs to be adjusted repeatedly... This greatly delays the overall progress of clinical trials. The reason why the clinical research of many new drugs is delayed for seven or even eight or nine years is because each time the dosage is adjusted, the research needs to start from Phase I again."

"However, once we have a sufficient number of volunteers, we can use a multi-group batch-parallel clinical trial approach to greatly shorten the process."

"In fact, foreign countries have thought about doing this, but the requirement of Phase III clinical trials of 1,000 or even 3,000 patients means that they simply do not have the conditions to do so... Otherwise, pharmaceutical companies in America would not have used the power of the administrative system and the military to secretly use those residents as clinical trial subjects for new drugs without the knowledge of the people."

At this point, Miss Mu smiled even brighter: "Whether a new drug can recover its R&D costs within the patent protection period is the key to the key... If you can shorten the clinical research period from the normal 4 to 7 years to 2 to 3, or even shorter, what this means is self-evident, right?"

After hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

The saying that time is money is most truly reflected in the medical field, especially in the field of original drugs.

The reason why pharmaceutical companies in Europe and the United States, especially the pharmaceutical giants in America, have carried out those unscrupulous actions within their own country is, to put it bluntly, simply to pass the most time-consuming and most headache-inducing clinical research link as quickly as possible, so that they can earn an extra year or two of money during the patent protection period... Even if the news is finally leaked and causes stock price fluctuations, it is completely worth it compared to the super high profits of hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars each year during the patent period.

However, there is obviously no need to worry about these problems when conducting a multi-group batch parallel clinical trial model in Texas.

They were fully aware of Dahua's influence at the grassroots level in local rural areas. After explaining the matter clearly and offering sufficient compensation conditions, it was not difficult for them to mobilize tens of thousands of volunteers at one time. Even disputes arising in the process were rare... Momo Baiyao has also carried out similar operations since last year. At least so far, the disputes arising from this matter have not exceeded the number of our fingers.

(I would like to emphasize that this is not to use the people as a springboard for personal gain. Drug testing itself is a mature and formal industry and an important source of income for many people. Earlier in this book, I mentioned the clinical drug testing rules of Momo Baiyao. With a relatively sound guarantee mechanism, based on the current rural income level, volunteers can earn hundreds or thousands of yuan in income, or tens of thousands or tens of thousands of yuan in compensation, which may even change the fate of an entire family.)
Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but smile.

If they were persuaded to accept the subcontracting of preclinical research business out of helplessness and coercive considerations, then letting the Texas region take over the clinical research link is what they have been longing for... At the very least, it can shorten the R&D period by one to two years. People who are not engaged in original drug research cannot understand the value of this number at all.

Seeing the cheerful atmosphere, Miss Mu continued, "As for the approval and registration process, there is no need to say more. Dahua is a central enterprise, and Dezhou is a pilot city for the tax-sharing reform. As long as we form a CRDMO or CTDMO cooperation framework, the time required for this process will definitely be further shortened... at least it will take less than two years."

"As for the production and sales, I can't guarantee it abroad, but in China, in the Shandong, Henan and Hebei Industrial Manufacturing Cooperation Zone, with the deployment of Momo Baiyao terminals and the linkage of urban medical systems, at least the sales of some targeted drugs for appropriate symptoms can be guaranteed."

………………

After more than half an hour of communication on some issues of concern to both parties, everyone agreed in principle to gradually develop a CRDMO or CTDMO cooperation framework with Texas based on the actual situation of each company.

As for the specific details, they would have to wait until the formal negotiation stage to be finalized bit by bit by the negotiation teams of both sides... Today was just a welcoming party, not suitable for discussing such details. The identities of the people present also determined that they could only discuss general matters. If they were really asked to appear at the negotiation table in person, it would be impossible unless some irreconcilable contradictions arose during the negotiation.

However, the issues that Miss Mu is most concerned about have already reached a general consensus, and now it is the turn of the issues that Japanese companies are most concerned about.

As the person who knew Yang Mo the earliest and also the one who had the closest working relationship with him among those present, Suzuki Jiken was naturally pushed forward as the representative.

"Minister Mu, regarding the cooperation in original research drugs, I think we should have reached a consensus on the general direction. So I would like to ask about the Chinese herbal medicine..."

Suzuki Jiken looked at the unbelievably beautiful Mrs. Yang in front of him with some caution.

As China's overseas brands continue to take root in the island market and the China-Japan Economic Promotion Council plays an increasingly prominent role in the non-governmental economic cooperation between the two countries, coupled with the expansion of the authority of the Second Comprehensive Department, he can no longer treat Mrs. Yang in front of him as an accessory to Yang Mo as before.

Noticing the subtle change in the other party's attitude, Mu Liya's heart was filled with strange feelings, but the smile on her face did not change at all.

He immediately took out a document from his briefcase and handed it over: "Director Suzuki, we are old friends. Now is the critical moment for the division of the medical and health market in your country. I will naturally not forget our agreement."

Standing up and taking the thin document, Suzuki Jiken opened it without hesitation, only to find that it was a catalog.

Hypertension:

【Eight-flavor blood pressure-lowering soup】;
【Huangjing Four Herbs Decoction】;
【Heart-benefiting and brain-strengthening soup】;
【Blood-regulating Drink】……

Diabetes:

【Blood sugar reduction recipe】;
【Shengjin Zhike Decoction】 (In traditional Chinese medicine, diabetes is called Xiaoke disease);
【Xiaoke Recipe】;
【Two places hypoglycemic drinks】……

Vascular and neuralgic headaches:
【Jiawei Sanpian Decoction】;
【Yangxue Pinggan Decoction】;
【Tongluo Toufeng Decoction】……

And so on, covering seven major sections including geriatric diseases, chronic diseases, and andrology, with more than 110 soup recipes.

"Minister Mu, this is...the secret recipe your company has acquired over the past two years?"

Suzuki Jiken's voice was trembling slightly.

He originally thought that it was already very good that the other party could share fifty or sixty secret recipes this time. After all, after the mid-1980s, China's secret recipes became increasingly difficult to obtain. But he did not expect that the other party would throw out so many in one go.

Miss Mu nodded modestly: "Yes, this is the secret recipe that our Dahua Company has spent countless efforts in the past two years to collect from traditional Chinese medicine families and folks (don't take it seriously, these are actually excerpted from the "First Batch of National-level Famous Traditional Chinese Medicine Effective Secret Recipes Selection", and students who are interested can go and look at it.)"

Suzuki Cijian's mouth trembled a little: "What about the ratio of these prescriptions, and the preparation method of the raw materials...?"

Mu Liya's face was full of regret, but a hint of smile appeared in the corner of her eyes: "I'm sorry, General Manager Suzuki, although the prescription ratio can be shared with you after the cooperation relationship is confirmed, we cannot provide the processing methods of some decoctions and all key raw materials."

"Although our company has signed agreements with these prescription providers, we should have the right to dispose of these contents as long as we pay sales dividends;"

"But you are not one of them... Almost all drug providers prohibit us from disclosing these confidential information to you."

At this point, Mu Liya spread her hands helplessly: "It can't be helped. Your side was really dishonest in this area in the past few years, and ceramics and Chinese medicine secret recipes are the hardest hit areas."

"What's worse is that just last year, it was revealed that your country stole our white porcelain craftsmanship, causing serious damage to our ceramic industry. Now there is a huge public outcry in this area in China... So, please understand."

White porcelain?

The corners of Suzuki Jiken's eyes twitched, and feeling guilty, he cursed a well-known company in his country in his heart.

MD, you didn't steal earlier or later, but you stole at this critical moment.
It would be fine if you just stole it, but you copied it using MD technology and then sold it two years later!
Now, I've been killed by you!

His scalp went numb when he thought that this would mean that his pharmaceutical companies would have to jointly build a large number of new Chinese medicine processing factories and pharmaceutical factories specializing in the production of various decoctions and intermediate medicines in Texas.

Depend on!
There will be heavy bleeding again!
------

PS: The theft of the white porcelain craft actually happened in the 1980s, but it seemed to be discovered in the 1990s. However, I couldn’t find the specific information whether it was discovered in the early 1990s or the late 1990s. So in order to advance the plot, let’s assume that it was exposed in the early 1990s. Only such an incident is needed.

In addition, as mentioned earlier, the large-scale spread of Chinese medicine secret recipes to the island country occurred between the mid-1990s and the mid-millennium. Before that, because China had suffered several losses, it immediately began to strictly guard against them based on national sentiment. So don’t think that the plot of this chapter is unreasonable.

(End of this chapter)