The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 405



Only Krnovel

405. Jackpot (5)

I moved to the new drug development room with Dr. Jangwoo Kim.

The first thing that caught my eye was the sight of well over 300 talented people working to develop new drugs.

“The number of researchers has definitely increased significantly.”

“The number of new drug development researchers alone is 350, and if you add researchers from other parts, there are over 700.”

“Among them, how many people are researching mRNA and DNA-based new drugs?”

“Not that many. The number of people researching that field is small, so the talent pool itself is small. Less than 50 people at most.”

At most 50 people.

At least it was too little.

mRNA has been a technology that has been attracting attention since the early 2000s, but it has not yet received much support because it is not a profitable technology.

“We need to make efforts to cultivate a talent pool. So, we plan to apply to several universities, including IIT. We think it would be a good idea to not only bring outstanding talents to Centrion, but also conduct various collaborations.”

“It’s a very good idea. Although we have the patent for mRNA technology, we are not utilizing it properly.”

The mRNA patent was already secured.

Although there were many related patents, the most important patent was ours.

However, because patents alone did not mean that a treatment could be developed, more investment was desperately needed.

“I hope to hire more than 10 times more researchers related to mRNA and DNA within the next two years.”

“Are you saying that much? It is said to be effective against various diseases such as AIDS, malaria, and influenza, but we have not yet been able to create a proper treatment using mRNA technology.”

“Shouldn’t there be a new drug created solely with the power of Centrion? I think mRNA technology is the answer.”

“Hehe, you are giving me a very difficult homework. Good. I will definitely try to develop Centrian’s original new drug before I die.”

I had to accumulate skills from now on.

Only then, when the coronavirus spread, could a treatment be quickly released.

“You can use as much money as you want. We will provide trillions of funds.”

“······I’ve gotten older and have become somewhat deaf. Did you say trillions?”

“That’s right. If trillions of dollars are not enough, we also plan to invest tens of trillions. So, please feel free to recruit the talent you want from Korea, the United States, Europe, and India. And we will soon find a large research building dedicated to mRNA and DNA.”

New construction could not be done right now.

However, it was easy to purchase a building and turn it into a research building.

“You really mean it.”

“This is not just a job for Centrian. Please think of it as an investment for the future of the Korean bio industry.”

“Hehe, I think it was really a good idea to come to Korea. Let’s burn the last flame.”

There was no exaggeration or falsehood in the conversation with Dr. Kim Jang-woo.

I was really ready to invest trillions of dollars in the bio industry.

If the company succeeds in developing the first coronavirus treatment, the trillion-dollar investment will be recouped in an instant.

* * *

Until July, the Chinese stock market continued to decline significantly.

It fell by more than 22% from its peak, and the Chinese government was also trying to put out several cards to put out the fire.

Financial Tower’s interest was also the actions of the Chinese government.

Although it was necessary to predict what kind of card the Chinese government would pull, it was possible to continue to generate high returns.

The same was true for Vice President Han.

He brought several cards for China to use and asked my opinion.

“There are many cards that China can use, including interest rate cuts, big deals, yuan devaluation, and large-scale civil engineering projects. The financial tower’s strategy must also change depending on which card to use.”

“We will devalue the yuan. It is the easiest way to use it right now, and the Chinese government will not do anything more than that right now.”

“Are you saying you’re touching the yuan?”

Yuan devaluation.

It was literally an act of lowering the value of the yuan.

If that happens, the export economy will improve and it will become easier to respond to the decline in foreign exchange reserves.

“It is the easiest and most powerful card that China can use. Although it is not a reserve currency, it can be used because the yuan is used as a trade currency.”

“If the yuan is devalued, the export economy will definitely return to recovery.”

“Moreover, it is a very good way to reject yuan speculators.”

“I think this is news that Quantum Fund CEO George will be very happy about.”

No matter what anyone said about exchange rates, CEO George was the expert.

When it comes to short selling, Vice Chairman Han and the recently recruited king of short selling, Kanos, may be even better, but when it comes to exchange rates, it was CEO George who had the ability to fight and win against the country.

“If you leave it to CEO George, he will take care of it.”

“However, the investment amount varies depending on the level of yuan devaluation.”

“China is trying to preemptively devalue the yuan ahead of the U.S. interest rate hike. It will devalue it in line with the interest rate increase.”

“We will proceed like that!”

It was a vice president whose face had regained some vitality.

He ran straight to his office to make an investment plan.

Only then did the planning manager, who had been waiting outside, come inside.

“Chairman, I have something to report to you.”

“What happened?”

“We have obtained information that the government is hiding. An infectious disease that originated in the Middle East has also occurred in Korea. It is said that a person who returned from Bahrain tested positive.”

“An epidemic that occurred in the Middle East? Is the name of the disease, by any chance, MERS?”

“That’s right. It’s also called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The government says it only discloses related information to medical staff to prevent anxiety and misunderstandings. That’s why the information is known only to a very small number of people.”

Why had I forgotten this?

Due to COVID-19, I had completely forgotten about MERS.

In fact, compared to COVID-19, the contagious power of MERS was not high.

It is no exaggeration to say that the entire population of the world was infected with COVID-19, but in the case of MERS, the number was around 2,500.

That’s why I forgot about it.

But when I think about it now, the impact of MERS was by no means small.

“We have to go to Centrion right now. Director, please continue to obtain information regarding MERS.”

“We will find out all the information and report back to you.”

I quickly moved to Centrian.

I immediately called CEO Seo Jeong-jun and Dr. Kim Jang-woo.

“Did you hear? They say MERS has broken out in Korea too.”

“Really? Neither the news nor the government has made an announcement yet.”

“It looks like an announcement will be made soon. Is the new drug development team also researching MERS-related treatments?”

MERS was not the first virus to emerge this year.

Since the virus was first reported in Egypt in 2012, there was quite a bit of information about it.

“Although research is underway, there is no significant progress due to the lack of data.”

“I know that MERS was first announced to the academic world in 2012. It’s already been three years, but there’s not enough data?”

“This is because no pharmaceutical company in the world is interested in developing a MERS treatment.”

“You’re saying there’s no money.”

Pharmaceutical companies were never charities.

They only invested in diseases that made money, and if it didn’t make money, they never invested, no matter how high the fatality rate was.

“In the case of influenza, the transmission rate is very high, so large quantities of treatments or vaccines are needed. However, in the case of coronaviruses such as SARS or MERS, the rate of transmission is relatively low, so the rate of return is very low.”

The cost of developing a new drug was at least 500 billion won.

Money was money, but you had to invest at least 3 to 5 years.

If the treatment or vaccine developed with so much money and time is not sold, the company will suffer a huge loss.

Therefore, pharmaceutical companies did not pay attention to the coronavirus family.

Influenza-related treatments and vaccines are pouring in, but in the case of MERS and SARS, it has been difficult to obtain related information, let alone treatments.

“It appears that the results show that it is better to treat the disease in a hospital rather than develop a treatment or vaccine.”

“For example, there was a company that was developing a treatment for SARS. They completed animal testing, but development was halted just before clinical trials on humans were conducted because SARS was designated as a controllable disease.”

Controllable disease.

In short, it meant that the contagious power was weak.

This means that even if there is no cure or vaccine, the current medical system can sufficiently handle it.

“Why not develop MERS vaccines and treatments at Centrion?”

“From our perspective as researchers, this is welcome. It is a great opportunity to use the mRNA and DNA methods. However, from the company’s perspective, it will likely be a very bad investment that will only result in losses.”

“All investment amounts will be supported by Taewoo Group.”

Now we have had to get used to the coronavirus.

Only then could we properly respond to the COVID-19 virus that would break out in a few years.

If I thought about it differently, it could have been a good opportunity.

Because it was a coronavirus that no pharmaceutical company in the world was interested in, it was an opportunity for us to take the lead.

“However, we cannot develop vaccines and treatments simply by investing. We need a lot of samples, and to do that, we need to have a system in place to manage infected people 24 hours a day.”

“Don’t worry about that. We will transfer all domestic MERS-infected patients to Taewo Hospital. We will obtain and relay all information from the beginning of infection until treatment.”

“To treat the coronavirus family, we need enormous equipment and facilities.”

“Don’t worry about money. As I said before, I am prepared to spend trillions of dollars to develop the bio industry. I think treating MERS is part of that.”

“This is Won, when you look at the chairman, he looks like a person who is anxious because he can’t spend money. Of course, from the perspective of researchers like us, he is an extremely nice person.”

It was Dr. Kim Jang-woo who presented me as a good person.

But I had the same mindset as other pharmaceutical companies.

‘I don’t invest in things that don’t make money.’

MERS treatment may not be profitable right now.

This decision was made because if we were able to create a COVID-19 treatment and vaccine based on that experience, we could earn more than 10 times the investment.

“Now that I’m spending money, I guess I’ll have to spend a little more. You said there was a company that was developing a cure for SARS, right?”

“Yes, it is an American pharmaceutical company called Chiron that completed animal testing but withdrew due to lack of development costs.

“We will purchase the SARS treatment from Chiron. We will purchase and provide all the data, from research data to treatment development methods. Wouldn’t this be of some help in developing a MERS treatment?”

They were MERS and SARS, which are the same coronavirus family.

Even though it may not be of great help, in the current situation where data is lacking, it would play a role like sweet rain in a drought.

“If you support me that much, I will risk everything to create a cure.”

“Then I will trust you and get on with the work.”

There were still many steps remaining to develop a treatment.

In particular, negotiations with the government were the most important process.

Wouldn’t it be better if we could give the impression that Taewoong Group is acting to help the government?

It was a situation where the foundation contribution was paid in installments.

In this situation, if you were to invest a large amount of money into MERS treatment, how grateful would you be to the government?