Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 341 Galaxy Pharmaceuticals purchased for 0 Yuan

After Galaxy Pharmaceuticals released part of the data from its Phase I clinical trial, a large number of news media organizations around the world reported on it that day.

The major Internet media platforms are still the fastest to act!

Reports on Galaxy Pharmaceutical's anti-cancer drug Xiluokeda soon appeared on a large domestic portal website, citing relevant data released by Galaxy Pharmaceutical and interviewing some doctors and even patients who participated in the clinical trials.

"We have reason to believe that the emergence of Xeloda will make some cancers curable and save the lives of millions of people!"

Xiluokeda's question appeared again on a certain website, and it appeared directly at the top of the list, attracting a large number of people to discuss.

In addition to various popular science and emotional answers, there are also a large number of ordinary people participating in the discussion.

"This medicine sounds very powerful. Is it true?"

“So, we conquered cancer?”

"We can't say that we have conquered cancer. After all, the information released so far is that it is only effective against 16 types of cancer, while there are more than 200 types of cancer that have been discovered!"

"What kind of company is Galaxy Pharmaceuticals? I've never heard of it before!"

"I heard it's a domestic company, but there's also news that it's a South African pharmaceutical company. But it's certain that they have a large R&D center and production base in China!"

"I heard that this drug is particularly effective for liver cancer. Alas, this drug appeared too late. My uncle died of liver cancer last year!"

"I heard that this medicine has few side effects, but I don't know if it's true or not."

"I don't know when they will open the second round of clinical trials. I have a relative who also has lung cancer and is asking around for this drug, but all I hear is that the first round of clinical trials are full."

"Forget about the first phase of clinical trials, it's already full. As for the second phase, it depends on the situation. But I heard that this drug has few side effects and low risks, so the second phase of clinical trials should be available sooner!"

Not only domestic media and netizens are paying attention to this news, but foreign media and ordinary people are also paying attention to it.

After all, Xiluokeda is a first-phase clinical trial conducted in eight countries around the world. Related situations have occurred in China as well as abroad.

The New York Daily News published news about the drug on its front page, and their reporters went deeper and obtained a lot of confidential information.

Especially the news about side effects that have attracted a lot of attention.

"According to our reporter's investigation, a considerable number of patients with mild symptoms in the first phase of clinical trials in the United States have recovered and been discharged from the hospital. We interviewed some of these patients and confirmed the authenticity of this situation."

"At the same time, a large number of moderate and severe cancer patients have seen their conditions significantly improved and have gained hope to continue living. If they continue with treatment, they may even recover completely!"

"As for the side effects of the drug, we have not received any public official information. Galaxy Pharmaceuticals did not mention the side effects of the drug. However, through investigation, we found that the drug avoided almost all patients with cardiovascular disease and renal disease during the trial."

"We suspect that this drug may have some impact on heart and kidney function!"

"In addition, after we secretly visited and investigated some of the trial patients, some anonymous trial patients revealed that a small number of people who had participated in the trial had experienced headaches, chest tightness, vomiting and even shock."

"We cannot determine what the definite side effects of this drug are, but what is certain is that this drug does not have any side effects as rumored!"

In fact, the New York Times' investigative report has a certain authenticity.

Although no obvious side effects were found during the early secret experiments in Africa, the scale was small and the time was short at that time. In addition, there were not many equipments, so Galaxy Life did not find any obvious adverse side effects.

However, after conducting more legal, compliant and larger-scale Phase I clinical trials, more accurate information was collected, including some side effects.

Many doctors participating in clinical trials have also discovered some side effects, but most of them have ignored them.

Because compared with its anti-cancer effect, these small chances of non-fatal side effects are almost negligible.

However, side effects still exist. After collecting and compiling data from the first phase of clinical trials in eight countries around the world, Galaxy Pharmaceuticals found that the drug causes certain damage to the kidneys, especially when taken in large doses within a short period of time, which will lead to relatively high risks.

At the same time, taking large doses can also cause certain cardiovascular problems, which means that patients with cardiovascular disease are at higher risk when taking this drug.

As for why there is such a thing as taking large doses...that's because of clinical trials. If you don't try it, how do you know what the most appropriate dose is?

Therefore, the dosages of medication taken by subjects in different groups are actually different, some take less and some take more.

It was also discovered that some patients experienced unknown headaches.

Finally, a very small number of patients developed allergic skin itching, flushing, redness, swelling, and even shock after taking the drug... This means that some people may be allergic to the drug.

Then there are the less serious vomiting issues.

Large-scale phase I clinical trials, because of the many methods and approaches involved, exposed a variety of side effects.

However, the main reason why Galaxy Pharmaceuticals still chooses to disclose some information is that among all the side effects that have occurred so far, there are no universal, unavoidable side effects with serious consequences.

Even the most serious allergic problems can be avoided through sensitivity testing, and drug allergies are actually very common...even antibiotics such as penicillin can cause allergic reactions in some people.

Then there are cardiovascular problems and kidney damage. If there is no history of related diseases and the medication is not taken in large doses, this problem will not arise.

There are side effects, but they are controllable, and except for a very small number of allergic groups, it is suitable for most normal people.

This is why the drug needs to be tested for allergies in the subsequent two batches of trials, and patients with renal insufficiency and cardiovascular disease are excluded...

The next two batches did not show such severe allergic reactions, nor did they suffer from cardiovascular and kidney damage.

However, Galaxy Pharmaceuticals has not announced these to the public yet... This is just a new drug that has not yet been put on the market and is still in clinical trials. It is normal for any problems to arise.

Numerous reports from domestic and foreign media and discussions by netizens have kept Galaxy Pharmaceuticals' Xiluokeda in the spotlight.

But it is the large number of cancer patients who are really interested in this drug.

There is a huge group of cancer patients in this world.

According to data from authoritative statistical agencies, there are approximately 20 million new cancer patients worldwide each year.

Globally, the number of cancer patients who survive five years after diagnosis is approximately 50 million.

About nine million people die from cancer every year.

That’s a lot of data!
What does it mean?
market!

Huge market!
Even though there are no particularly effective anti-cancer drugs at present, the market for anti-cancer drugs still reaches 800 to 900 billion US dollars. However, it is worth noting that although the anti-cancer drug market is huge, there is actually no dominant anti-cancer drug. The drug with the highest sales is only about 6 billion US dollars.

If there were... then there wouldn't be more than nine million deaths from cancer every year!
Among these cancer types with relatively high mortality rates, many are indications for Galaxy Pharmaceuticals' Xiluokeda, especially lung cancer and liver cancer.

These two types of cancer have high incidence and mortality rates, so there are a lot of cancer patients who pay close attention to Galaxy Pharmaceutical's new drug Xiluokeda.

It's not just these two major cancers. In fact, Galaxy Pharmaceuticals' Xiluokeda has shown varying degrees of efficacy against sixteen types of cancer in the first phase of clinical trials. Among these sixteen cancers, many are among the top ten cancer types in terms of incidence and mortality.

Here, I would like to mention that most of the cancer deaths in China die from lung cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer, etc. in that order. Among them, lung cancer occupies an absolute leading position, far exceeding other cancers.

Here is another interesting comparative data.

The cancer mortality rate among males in China is about twice that among females...Why?
Because the incidence rate of lung cancer in men is 1.5 times that of women. Although it is 1.5 times, the base number of lung cancer is large.

Since men and women breathe the same air, why do men have a 1.5 times higher incidence rate?
Everyone knows the reason...smoking!
At the same time, the incidence of liver cancer in men is three times that of women... Where does the extra incidence come from? This is also easy to guess. Even a kid knows that it is due to drinking. The incidence of stomach cancer in men is also twice that of women. This is related to eating habits, especially smoked and grilled food. In addition, some analysts believe that it is also related to smoking.

The top three cancer mortality rates, and even the types of cancer that account for the majority of cancer mortality rates, are all far ahead in terms of incidence among men...

So, gentlemen, if you can avoid smoking, it’s better to not smoke; in addition, drink less alcohol and try to avoid eating too much meat and fish; your diet should be healthier.

----

The reason why Xiluokeda quickly caused a global sensation was not because it had a specific effect on a certain cancer. In fact, there are some anti-cancer drugs that have good effects on certain specific cancers...but some specific anti-cancer drugs have no one paying attention to them except patients and doctors.

However, Xiluokeda has very good therapeutic effects on many cancers with high incidence and mortality.

It is universal and effective for most common cancer patients, which is the important reason why it has quickly attracted people's attention.

This drug is even described by some doctors as an antibiotic in the anti-cancer field...

A large number of cancer patients are extremely concerned about this. Since the large-scale media coverage, countless patients have been asking around and seeking to buy the experimental drug Xiluokeda.

But the quota for the first phase of clinical trials was full, so they had no way to purchase it.

However, people's desire to survive is strong, and many people are very motivated. In the beginning, there were patients and their families who directly called Galaxy Pharmaceutical's operating branches in various countries to inquire.

However, after receiving a rejection answer and being told that the company would not increase the scale of the trial in the short term and would not launch a second phase of clinical trials in the short term, many people simply ran to the doors of various branches of Galaxy Pharmaceuticals and blocked them directly!

A few days later, thousands of patients and their families gathered at the UK branch of Galaxy Pharmaceuticals in the UK, shouting, "We want to survive, we want Xiluokeda!"

Just the next day, Galaxy Pharmaceuticals' branch in San Francisco was also attacked by patients and their families. The situation was out of control for a while, causing the crowd to get out of control. Some gang members with ulterior motives instigated the crowd and then rushed into the branch, looting all the Xiluokeda drug stored there for patients in the first phase of clinical trials.

After the looting started in one place, several other overseas branches of Galaxy Pharmaceuticals were also looted!
Why is there a rush to loot?

Because on the black market, the price of Xiluokeda was quoted as 20,000 US dollars!
Not a box, not a course of treatment, but one pill!
Just one pill, 0.25G!

This kind of medicine is much more expensive than gold nowadays.

Among the many cancer patients with the indications who were unable to participate in the first phase of clinical trials, there are many wealthy people. Some of them have urgent conditions and cannot delay treatment any longer, and urgently need Xiluokeda to save their lives.

In order to save lives, they are able to prescribe a pill at a price of $20,000.

In response to this situation, Galaxy Pharmaceuticals issued a statement that the first phase of clinical trials of Xiluokeda has not been completed and there is still a risk of unknown side effects. In a responsible manner, the company will strictly abide by the laws of various countries and conduct each phase of clinical trials legally.

At the same time, we also call on patients and their families to exercise restraint and not to attack the company's branches in various places.

At the same time, some overseas branches, especially those in the United States, urgently announced that the company had called the police and believed in the local judicial authorities to handle the matter.

At the same time, in response to the situation where some drugs were looted, resulting in drug shortages for patients in the first phase of clinical trials, the company has urgently airlifted a batch of drugs, and the newly arrived drugs have been put under armed control.

We will ensure that all patients participating in the Phase I clinical trial receive the corresponding drugs to continue the clinical trial.

Finally, the head of Galaxy Pharmaceuticals' U.S. branch, an old white man with blond hair, appealed to reporters: the company's offices are ordinary administrative spaces and do not store any drugs...don't come to rob.

Galaxy Pharmaceutical's operational management seemed a little unprepared for this sudden riot... They were all ordinary pharmaceutical company executives who had never experienced such a thing, and they quickly asked for help from the head office, Galaxy Life.

The management of Galaxy Life did not expect this to happen.

If anti-aging drugs were to be snatched away, they could still understand it, especially for key projects like the ARE78 project, where drugs were snatched away to prevent technology leaks.

The drugs for the ARE78 project have always been transported under armed escort, and the test base is also equipped with a full range of heavy weapons.

The strength of the Galaxy Security, which is responsible for the security of each base, is no joke. Unless the regular army attacks, it will be difficult to break through the Galaxy Security's defense circle with ordinary small-scale fighting.

Taking a step back, even if it cannot be stopped, Galaxy Security can buy time to destroy the drugs and corresponding technical data.

But the BDF103 project is just an ordinary anti-cancer drug... and Galaxy Life did not hide it from sale. They honestly set up a legal subsidiary, and then conducted clinical trials in various countries legally and compliantly, and then prepared to put it on the market for sale.

But I never expected that in a number of developed countries, their Galaxy Life could be purchased for zero dollars!

A foreign executive in Galaxy Life said this at an internal company meeting: Madfak, if this happened in Africa, I would have ordered a machine gun attack long ago...

Some of the top executives of Galaxy Life were very dissatisfied. It was always them who threatened others, but they had never experienced being bought by others for 0 yuan!
I finally managed to run a legal business, but it was robbed...

But unfortunately, when this kind of thing happens in several developed countries such as the United States, machine gun fire is definitely not an option... No matter how bold the management of Galaxy Life is, they will not play it this way.

Therefore, the only thing we can do is to ask our subsidiary Galaxy Pharmaceutical to exercise restraint.

Then, a new problem arises, which is whether to accelerate clinical trials, such as increasing the number of clinical trial places and accelerating the launch of the second phase of clinical trials.

The top management of Galaxy Life has instructed Galaxy Pharmaceuticals to conduct clinical trials in strict compliance with the laws of various countries, and to apply for the second phase of clinical trials after the successful completion of the first phase of clinical trials.

After all, there is a huge difference between conducting drug trials in Africa and conducting legal and compliant clinical trials in various countries... You can't do it blindly.

But Galaxy Pharmaceuticals can sit still, but outsiders cannot. Some people who have needs and are rich and powerful cannot sit still!
Soon, Galaxy Pharmaceuticals received many inquiries from wealthy people.

A wealthy Internet tycoon from the United States came to ask about participating in the clinical trial of Xiluokeda because his wife was in the late stage of liver cancer and urgently needed treatment.

The same thing happened in other areas.

Finally, all the matters were summarized at Galaxy Pharmaceutical's China headquarters, and then reported to Galaxy Life, and even Xu Shenxue learned about it.

In fact, Xu Shenxue has not paid much attention to the drug Xiluokeda recently. He just ordered it to be gradually carried out in clinical trials and then put on the market.

He didn't expect that it would cause such a big commotion... He underestimated it, or he had never paid attention to these areas.

He then had a brief discussion with the team at Galaxy Life and finally instructed that Galaxy Pharmaceuticals must act legally and in compliance with regulations and must not engage in any illegal operations.

Galaxy Life conducted internal discussions based on this instruction and finally decided to strictly abide by the laws of various countries when conducting clinical trials and subsequent sales of Xiluokeda!
However, the legal provisions in some countries may be different, so it is also appropriate to carry out new types of legal and compliant clinical trials in some countries.

At the same time, the cost of clinical trials is too high. The reason why Galaxy Pharmaceuticals previously limited the number of places was because the cost of clinical trials is actually very high... Galaxy Life's headquarters is rich, but they don't give much money to Galaxy Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary.

Therefore, it is actually very difficult for Galaxy Pharmaceuticals to conduct clinical trials because the funding is very tight.

After all, clinical trials not only require free drugs, but also require the provision of various tests and other expenses... One or two people may not be a big deal, but when hundreds or thousands of people are added together, the cost becomes outrageous.

Due to the high cost of clinical trials and insufficient funds of the company, Galaxy Pharmaceuticals will launch some value-added services or other business information services for specific high-net-worth users.

Of course, the medicine is still free, and corresponding physical examinations and other additional treatment services are also provided... This still falls within the scope of the first phase of clinical trials, and to participate, one has to sign a lot of legal documents such as waiver agreements.

But... Galaxy Pharmaceuticals also has other businesses. For example, the company provides some special plane pick-up, special car pick-up, VIP disease, VIP nursing, business information and other services, which are charged.

Everything is voluntary. The company does not engage in bundled sales... So far, the company does not even sell medicine!

As a result, a large number of wealthy people took out checks and bought all kinds of messy businesses, and then got the first phase clinical trial spots in some countries.

The drug Xiluokeda has not even completed the first phase of clinical trials, but we have already begun exploring commercialization!
Moreover, Xiluokeda’s road to commercialization is extremely expensive!

Although the medicine is free, the prices of various additional services and businesses are extremely expensive!

(End of this chapter)