CH 225

Lin Chen and Mr. Xiao Zhan found a seat and sat down.

The large screen in the conference hall kept playing the Zhourui Pharmaceutical promotional video on repeat, and the booming voice echoed through the speakers.

The aerial camera scanned over the Zhourui Pharmaceutical building and focused on the company’s logo; a blue peace dove.

“We are Zhourui Pharmaceutical, dedicated to curing lives and improving the quality of life for all mankind…”

A righteous male voiceover began to speak. The doors to the Zhourui Pharmaceutical conference hall opened. Following the camera, the audience could see the energetic employees inside the pharmaceutical company. The camera continued to move upward, passing through the research and development laboratory, where employees wearing light blue dustproof suits worked on either side of the workstations. The scene looked organized, orderly, bright, and clean.

This made Lin Chen think of the dirty mining area deep in the rainforest, which was a stark contrast.

The male voice in the promotional video continued to speak with a reciting tone. “Zhourui Pharmaceutical has the most advanced global R&D team and world-class R&D capabilities. We are forging ahead, with an annual investment of over 10 billion yuan in R&D on new drugs every year. As of June this year, we have launched a total of 52 drugs on the market…”

The screen displayed many charts showing Zhourui Pharmaceutical’s R&D investment and related achievements.

In short, the press conference was also an enterprise promotional event, and these things were necessary. Lin Chen glanced briefly and felt that Zhourui Pharmaceutical had made some contributions in recent years.

After dozens of deafening enterprise promotional videos, it finally stopped.

Lin Chen noticed that some elderly people with white hair were obviously accompanied by Zhourui Pharmaceutical staff to the front row, as well as some young and middle-aged people, who should be key members of hospitals or research institutes.

Suddenly, Mr. Xiao Zhan pinched Lin Chen’s arm. He looked over and saw the second-generation chemical factory owner Xiao Zhan excitedly saying, “Oh my god, Mr. Lin, did you see it? Did you see it? Oh my god, Academician Zhang is here too!”

Lin Chen didn’t understand and looked towards the front row, but he couldn’t see anything from those backs. However, he seemed to have seen the doctor who invited them to the promotional event among the experts in the front row just now.

As excited as Mr. Xiao Zhan was, the scene naturally became restless.

Without asking, Mr. Xiao Zhan explained to him, “That’s Academician Zhang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Pharmaceutical Research Institute! A top expert among experts!”

“Do you know him?”

“No… I don’t know…” Mr. Xiao Zhan suddenly felt embarrassed, and his excitement subsided. “I… I wanted to do my Ph.D. under Academician Zhang, but I didn’t pass the entrance exam.”

The fact that a top expert from a pharmaceutical research institute was invited to endorse a pharmaceutical company overturned Lin Chen’s understanding.

“Is this appropriate?” Lin Chen asked, “Would academicians be willing to go on commercial tours?”

Mr. Xiao Zhan pushed him and said seriously, “This is not a commercial tour, Mr. Lin. Keep your voice down.”

People around them cast their gaze on them, so Lin Chen shut up. Obviously, in such a place, saying too much would only lead to trouble.

“I don’t understand.”

“You may not understand these issues in the pharmaceutical industry.” Mr. Xiao Zhan lowered his voice. “Look, when a new drug is promoted and marketed to cure patients, who should use it and who should give it?”

“Of course, it is the doctors who give the medicine to the patients.”

“Mr. Lin, you are absolutely right… but there are so many types of drugs on the market. Even for something as simple as antipyretics, there are numerous options. So how do doctors gain information about new drugs to make informed decisions and choose the right medication for a specific patient?”

“Well, doctors have their own ways to stay informed…”

“Of course, but doctors are busy, and there are too many types of drugs. So, one of the main ways for doctors to learn about drugs is through the promotion of drug manufacturers. When a new drug is launched, the first thing drug companies do is conduct large-scale promotional activities to explain the therapeutic mechanism, efficacy, and clinical trial results of the drug… The experts’ presence is, of course, the result of the pharmaceutical company’s invitation, but it is also the best opportunity for doctors to learn about new drugs. In fact, the thinking in the medical system is very stubborn, and sometimes it takes a lot of effort to promote a new treatment approach and drug before it can completely replace the previous drug and be accepted by people. If the replacement is successful, it can truly achieve a mutually beneficial process and ultimately benefit patients,” Mr. Xiao Zhan said.

Lin Chen sighed lightly. “You’re not wrong. After all, fundamentally, without the commercial benefits of using drugs on patients, there would be no funding for the next round of research and development…”

“Mr. Lin, it’s impressive that you can think like that. At least you’re not like those who believe that doctors and drug companies collude to make money off patients. In fact, if pharmaceutical companies can’t make money from a certain disease, they are unlikely to invest heavily in developing new products. For example, there are few people who develop vaccines for rare viruses and drugs for brain damage rehabilitation like Nordren, which is produced by Zhourui Pharmaceutical alone and has been updated many times… ” Mr. Xiao Zhan continued to talk endlessly.

“Mr. Xiao Zhan,” Lin interrupted him.

“Yes?”

“I must say, when you talk about your expertise, you suddenly become less nervous.”

“I… I’m not… not nervous…”

Mr. Xiao Zhan blushed, and at the same time, the lights in the venue dimmed and someone walked slowly onto the stage. It was a middle-aged man with a big belly, who wore gold-rimmed glasses and was balding. He was the chairman of Zhourui Pharmaceutical.

“We would like to welcome all experts and friends from all walks of life to our promotional conference of our new drug Nordren. There have been many things happening recently regarding the launch of Nordren, and Zhourui Pharmaceutical has also been questioned conservatively. Nordren has had a lot of setbacks, and even we ourselves thought that this drug might never make any contributions to curing diseases. But it is a groundbreaking new drug, and we firmly believe in its therapeutic effects. It should serve all patients. Therefore, we have made a lot of effort recently so that it can finally be launched. Here, I also want to thank friends from all walks of life for their help.”

There was thunderous applause from the audience. It seemed the chairman didn’t shy away from the recent issues surrounding Nordren but rather brushed over them lightly.

Lin Chen calmly watched everything on the stage.

The chairman waved his hand. “Alright, I won’t talk much nonsense. Please watch the promotional video for Nordren.”

The big screen suddenly brightened, and the configuration of a new type of drug appeared, and the model on the screen rotated 360 degrees.

Several people were flipping through the promotional materials placed on each seat, with Mr. Xiao Zhan paying particular attention, while Lin Chen began to observe the reactions of the people on stage and in the audience.

“Nordren is a new type of brain science drug that abandons the previous common treatment approach of unclogging and patching up leaks, and instead focuses on repairing neurons. Its active ingredient is Ton, which was discovered by our company’s scientists decades ago in the Dana Rainforest. Researchers designed and synthesized various derivatives to enhance the drug’s lipid solubility and allow it to pass through the blood-brain barrier. Once it enters the brain, the derivative drug of Nordren quickly undergoes metabolic changes and becomes a new active ingredient. The clinical trial evidence is included in the materials in your hands, and according to the relevant results…”

“Have you found anything?” Lin Chen turned his head and asked.

Mr. Xiao Zhan was confused. “Found what?”

It dawned on Lin Chen that Mr. Xiao Zhan wasn’t Xing Conglian, who was investigating the case with him, but rather a chemical engineering expert who simply wanted to restore the reputation of his father’s company.

“Is Nordren really as amazing as they say?”

“Huh? Amazing?” Mr. Xiao Zhan put down the materials. “It’s pretty impressive, with a new approach, but… I wouldn’t necessarily call it amazing.”

“Didn’t they say it was a completely new approach?”

“Well, Nordren is actually a fixed-dose combination of the company’s previous-generation cardiovascular drug Tern and the antiplatelet agent ADP, with Tern changing its structure and introducing the Ton component mentioned earlier. The new drug resulting from the restructuring is a very innovative approach that I’ve never seen before.”

Mr. Xiao Zhan’s tone was very casual and relaxed, but Lin Chen felt a chill run down his spine.

He rubbed his forehead, feeling that Mr. Xiao Zhan’s words contained extremely important and crucial information that had been hidden in plain sight due to their lack of expertise in the field of medicine.

He clenched his fist and finally made up his mind.

“Come with me.” He patted Mr. Xiao Zhan on the shoulder.

“What? The conference isn’t over yet,” Mr. Xiao Zhan asked, confused.

“Come with me,” Lin Chen emphasized.

Outside the conference hall, the hotel corridor was filled with the unique scent of hotel incense, and as usual, they were subjected to routine checks by the guards.

Lin Chen took Mr. Xiao Zhan for a casual walk in the corridor before finally speaking up. “I have a question, and I was wondering if you could help me analyze it.”

“Why are you so polite?”

“On stage just now, the chairman of Zhourui mentioned the problems their company encountered before Nordren was launched. What do you think about that?”

“I… I don’t know…”

“What I mean is, do you think there’s a problem with Nordren?”

“Do you think there’s a problem with Nordren?”

Mr. Xiao Zhan’s expression revealed that he had remembered Lin Chen’s rebuttal with the attending physician at the MRI room door yesterday.

“If it can pass the testing by the Food and Drug Administration, then there shouldn’t be any problems, and after so many clinical trials, unless Zhourui Pharmaceutical intentionally falsified the data, the efficacy should indeed exist.”

“What about the side effects? Will Nordren have strong side effects?”

“Side effects are hard to predict. For example, Herceptin, a breast cancer treatment drug, was found to cause symptoms and signs of decreased heart function in patients during later stages of treatment. We always say that medicine has three parts poison, so it’s unlikely that a certain drug has no side effects…”

Lin Chen listened quietly to Xiao Zhan’s explanation without interrupting the young man.

“Side effects are acceptable within a controllable range, meaning that within a certain range of data, they can be accepted. Moreover, Zhourui Pharmaceutical isn’t stupid. If they knew that Nordren had strong side effects, why would they promote it? Just the patient compensation claims alone would ruin them.”

Lin Chen fell into deep thought.

Xiao Zhan’s point was something they had discussed repeatedly. Now, considering all the information they had gathered over the past few days, they could see some things more clearly.

First, Nordren itself shouldn’t have any major problems. Otherwise, Zhourui Pharmaceutical wouldn’t have heavily promoted the drug.

Second, Zhourui Pharmaceutical had encountered some inexplicable internal problems, to the extent that they had replaced all of their suppliers.

Third, as the head of Nordren’s research and development, Tan Kang should have discovered something and wanted to expose it. However, he was killed by Shen Lian before he could do so.

Fourth, Shen Lian had been using lies to prevent Nordren from entering the market.

The problem was, what conclusion could be drawn from this information?

Lin Chen looked at the young man beside him and asked, “If someone is going to great lengths to prevent Nordren from entering the market, what do you think that person’s motive is?”

“Are you talking about… Zhourui Pharmaceutical’s competitors?” Xiao Zhan nervously asked.

“Competitors?”

“Because Nordren’s approach is indeed very innovative. If it can be successfully promoted on a large scale, it will squeeze out the old drugs of other manufacturers without any room for survival. Besides competitors, I… I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t want Nordren to enter the market.”

“But what if it’s an internal member of Zhourui Pharmaceutical who doesn’t want a certain drug to succeed?”

“That could also be due to competition within the internal team, such as if the company promotes your drug, then the predecessor drug under development will be slowly phased out of the market, or my new generation drug project that I’m developing might be canceled…”

“Predecessor drug?”

Lin Chen suddenly had an extremely terrifying feeling. “Did you just say that there is a relationship between Nordren and Zhourui Pharmaceutical’s predecessor cardiovascular and cerebrovascular drugs?”

“Nordren is a new type of drug produced by reconfiguring the predecessor drug Tern and adding a new ingredient, Ton,” Mr. Xiao Zhan said with confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“Nordren is an improvement over the predecessor drug?”

“It’s more complicated than just an improvement… It’s not a simple inheritance relationship…”

Kinky Thoughts:

Speaking of which, I know this varies by country, but in the United States, pharmaceutical companies can commercially advertise directly to consumers despite the fact that their drugs will need a doctor’s prescription. This has been criticized, as the ordinary layman doesn’t have the education and knowledge of drugs and health to make an educated decision on what drugs they should take for what illness they have.

On another note, speaking of medical and drug breakthroughs, with the rise of COVID, biotech companies Moderna and BioNTech made a breakthrough in their COVID vaccine through mRNA technology, which is different from the usual vaccines we normally take.

With this breakthrough, developers are now looking to use this technology to develop vaccines for such things as cancer and HIV. It’s quite exciting.