In Park Jin Hyuk's apartment.

Xuan Yizhu was sitting on the sofa, explaining the situation of DS Pharmaceuticals to Park Zhenhe, and the three team leaders kept handing him the information they had.

Looking at them, Park Jin Hyuk said in surprise:

"President Xuan, when were these materials prepared?"

"Manager Park, please don't call me that."

"Since you call me Executive Director, I should call you President as well."

"You're very kind."

Although Hyun Yi-soo's appointment as president of DS Construction has not yet been announced, the internal procedures have been completed.

Park Jin Hyuk called himself the president, and although Hyun Yi Soo refused, he was still very happy in his heart.

Looking at the information on the coffee table, Park Jin Hyuk said:

"You've prepared so much information? Someone who doesn't know you would think you don't do anything else all day."

Xuan Yizhu replied somewhat embarrassedly:

"Ever since you decided to go into pharmaceutical manufacturing, I've started preparing. I hope I can be of some help to you."

Park Jin Hyuk flipped through the information.

"If President Xuan comes along, I won't have to look at these things."

"Yes, but the situation this time is different, so I'll explain it to you first, so you can understand it...

Secretary Jin, you have to remember all of this in your head, and if Executive Director Park asks you, you have to answer immediately."

Kim Jun-woo was taking notes seriously next to Park Jin-hyuk. After listening to President Hyun's words, he nodded.

Xuan Yizhu smiled and said:

"I will do my best to prepare for you. With Secretary Jin by your side, I can rest assured."

"With everyone's support, I feel much more at ease. Preparing so much information is no joke."

He remembered that when he first came to DS Construction, Secretary Huang brought him a mountain of information.

However, the difference this time was that his tutor became more professional and he had an assistant by his side.

Xuan Yizhu looked at the information in front of him again and said:

“DS Group’s pharmaceutical sector may seem impressive, but in reality it is still far from forming core competitiveness.

After failing to develop new drugs for several consecutive years, the newly appointed president Mao Dayong wants to transform the business towards biosimilars and CMO (Note: an organization that accepts commissions from pharmaceutical companies to conduct research and development and production of new drugs)...but this is easier said than done.

CMOs, in particular, require a significant investment, but management has been reluctant to do so.”

"What's the reason?"

“There are many reasons, the main one being the issue of return on investment.

A lot of money has been invested in the past, but the returns are too small, so there is a lot of opposition to further investment."

"The result is still not as expected."

“Yes, apart from the medical supplements that sold well in the 1980s, DS Pharmaceuticals has not launched any decent products since then.

New drug research and development is ongoing every year, but they have never passed clinical trials. Now, it is actually engaged in pharmaceutical trade, that is, importing drugs from overseas and then selling them domestically.

Looking at the consecutive years of deficits on the financial statements, Park Jin Hyuk said:

"It's really not easy to survive this situation. I thought the situation would be better than the construction period, but looking at the situation, it's even a question whether the company can continue to operate."

Seeing that Park Jin Hyuk had grasped the core of the problem, Xuan Yizhu continued:

“You are absolutely right. As far as I know, DS Group has tried to sell this business several times.

But because of the painful experience of selling the automotive business in the past, the negotiations never came to fruition.”

Park Jin Hyuk knew what Hyun Yi Soo was talking about.

The first-generation chairman of DS, who started out in heavy industry and is Park Jin-hyuk's grandfather, has always dreamed of entering the automotive industry.

After the company grew to a certain size, he set up a car company despite the objections of those around him.

By introducing famous designers and engineers from Japan and Germany, the company plans to develop and produce affordable automobile products and eventually develop it into a world-class automobile enterprise.

However, faced with the sudden global financial crisis in 1998 and the deterioration of his grandfather's health, he fell ill and as a result, DS's automotive business had to be sold to foreign automobile companies at a low price.

It is said that his grandfather was lying on the hospital bed, crying sadly.

After the financial crisis, that foreign company achieved rapid growth, so people said that DS's original choice was very wrong.

"It seems they're worried that after selling DS Pharmaceuticals, the same situation as with the auto industry will happen again... But the company has reached this point where it's no longer a question of whether to sell or not. They can just shut it down."

Although the situation is better than that of DS Construction, the actual situation of DS Pharmaceuticals is completely inconsistent with the status of DS's pillar business.

In the stock market, DS Pharmaceuticals' share price cannot be compared with other biopharmaceutical companies.

“So, there’s an opportunity.”

"Chance?"

"Yes, because it has held up until now, you have the opportunity."

When they went to DS Construction, no one thought it was an opportunity. Now, after hearing what Hyun Yi-soo said, Park Jin-hyuk couldn't help but raise his head.

"In order to control the DS Group, you need to reserve a certain amount of funds, and DS Pharmaceuticals can build this strength for you."

"Building financial strength?"

If this was a stepping stone for his upward development, he could understand it, but when it came to building financial strength, he didn't understand.

"Is there some undiscovered treasure here?"

"Yes, and there are quite a few treasures inside. To ordinary people, this treasure may be a trap, but I have seen the treasure hidden inside."

"Really?"

"When I first suggested you go into pharmaceuticals, I wanted you to grab this business that no one had mastered. But the more I learned about it, the more I felt that this was what we needed."

"The amount of funds we need is over 1 trillion won, right?"

"Yes, pharmaceuticals definitely have this potential, and it may be more than 1 trillion, even more than that."

Seeing Hyun Yi-soo's confident look, Park Jin-hyuk smiled.

*** *** ***

Ever since he had hundreds of billions of assets in his name, he became numb to money.

To him, the difference between 100 million and 1 billion is like the difference between buying a loaf of bread worth 1,000 yuan or a loaf of bread worth 1,500 yuan.

However, trillions of dollars are a different story.