Chen Xia said this with absolute confidence. After the invention of proton pump inhibitors, only six drugs will be available on the market even by 2020.
They are omeprazole, lansoprazole, pantoprazole, rabeprazole, esomeprazole, and ilaprazole.
In the following decades, everyone knew that proton pump inhibitors were the goose that laid golden eggs. Wouldn't international pharmaceutical companies want to get a piece of the pie?
It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I really can’t.
There are certainly many related drug studies, but in another 40 years, only 6 of them will be able to enter clinical trials.
Now the patents for these six proton pump inhibitors are all in Chen Xia's hands, or are at the stage where he can apply for patents at any time. He doesn't believe that other pharmaceutical companies can develop new products.
So what if someone wants to ignore the patent of omeprazole, forcibly imitate omeprazole, and put it into production and sales?
If such a day really comes, Chen Xia wouldn't mind licensing the upgraded version of the drug to other pharmaceutical companies for free, letting them fight each other.
Anyway, he has nothing to lose and doesn't have much research and development costs. The Space Hospital has plenty of medicines, and he doesn't need this kind of medicine.
Therefore, there is no psychological pressure to do things that harm others and benefit oneself.
After hearing Chen Xia's "tactful" advice, Marcia, the representative of Huiduan Pharmaceutical from the United States, Chris Grayling, the manager of GlaxoSmithKline, and Taro Kono, the representative of Takeda Pharmaceutical from Japan, looked at each other with helplessness in their eyes.
Chen Xia's advice hit the nail on the head.
They are capable of disregarding patents and forcibly copying other people's patented drugs, and then using a large team of lawyers to exploit various legal loopholes to wage a protracted lawsuit and bring the plaintiff to bankruptcy.
In the face of absolute interests, how much is the face of a company or an individual worth?
But they also need to pay a lot of lawyer fees and litigation costs. If they encounter a neurotic judge or high-level officials from both countries intervene, they may not win the case.
The judicial costs are quite high. Don’t forget that lawyers in Europe and the United States are blood-sucking, especially big lawyers, who charge by the “point”.
Even if they eventually bring down the plaintiff and the laboratory copies the drug, they still have to conduct a large number of Phase IV clinical trials and pass the FDA's clinical trials, which is very costly.
The cost of building new factories and production lines, hiring a large number of workers, purchasing a large amount of raw materials, and various high-level public relations expenses is definitely not a small amount, at least several hundred million US dollars.
But they have invested so much, it is entirely possible that Chen Xia will license the drug to their competitors for free, launch upgraded drugs, and crush them with efficacy and price.
What's the point of playing that? The Chinese people have already turned the table over.
Not only will all investments be wasted, but the specific person in charge will definitely be held accountable by the board of directors, and it will be impossible for him to work in this industry in the future.
Therefore, bypassing patents and generic drugs is not feasible.
The representatives of the three pharmaceutical companies were not ordinary people either. After realizing this, they immediately changed their negotiation strategy.
Marcia asked, "Ms. Chen, Mr. Chen, I think you have your own preferred method of cooperation. You can propose it now. Although we don't have enough authority, we can report it to the board of directors immediately after returning."
Chris Grayling also smiled and said: "We are all friends of Professor Gregory. Everything can be discussed."
Chen Shuqin and Chen Xia looked at each other and felt that the time was right, so they could discuss the terms.
It was Chen Xia who took the initiative to speak: "Here's what we think: we won't sell the drug patent, but we can license it."
Representatives from several pharmaceutical companies nodded, saying that this was also the internationally accepted rule of the game and they could accept it.
"As for how to collect the patent fee, we have two methods. One is to charge a royalty of US$2 for each pill. The other is to only charge 5% of sales as a royalty."
When Chris Grayling heard the figure, he exclaimed: "That's impossible. The cost is too high. If it only cost 2 cents per pill, I might consider it."
Marcia and Kono Taro also shook their heads: "This figure is too exaggerated. We are not making any profit at all. On the contrary, we may even be losing money."
Chen Xia disagreed: "Ladies and gentlemen, you've forgotten one thing. We have a monopoly on this drug. We have no competitors. As long as we license the patent to you, you have the right to set the price."
Pricing power?
The three pharmaceutical representatives immediately realized that things would be different if they had pricing power.
When any new drug is launched that has proven clinical efficacy and has no competitors, its price is often very, very high.
Just like some cancer treatment drugs, they cost thousands of dollars or even tens of thousands of dollars each. This is everywhere. This is making money by exploiting monopoly.
Now if Pumpkin Vine licenses the patent to them, they can save the research costs and clinical trial costs that account for the largest part of the cost. How much will it cost to simply produce the drug?
Taro Kono asked another key question:
“If you license your patent, how many pharmaceutical companies are you going to grant it to? If you license it arbitrarily and there are too many competitors, then it will be impossible to maintain pricing power.”
At this time, Chen Shuqin interrupted:
"We only authorize three companies: one in the Americas, one in Europe and Africa, and one in Asia and Oceania. Of course, the Asian market excludes China and Hong Kong, which we will manage on our own."
Taro Kono's eyes lit up when he heard this. If they could take over Asia and Oceania, which is a huge market with a population of more than 2 billion, the sales would definitely be considerable.
As for the Chinese market, how many people in such a poor country can afford medicine? I just gave up.
This is also the common thought in the minds of the representatives of the three pharmaceutical companies. Of course, they will regret it in the future because they have also missed a huge market with a population of more than one billion.
Chen Xia's purpose in doing this is very clear. He wants to make money, but at the same time he also wants to make a certain contribution to China's medical market.
If the Chinese market is handed over, the price of imported medicines will not be acceptable to the Chinese people, so he wants to take over this market himself and set the price of medicines lower, so that at least every Chinese person can afford the medicines.
In a market of over one billion people, he is the only company that provides these medicines, which is actually enough for him to make a fortune.
"So, ladies and gentlemen, our terms will not change. This is actually our biggest concession. Otherwise, if we build our own pharmaceutical factory, produce and sell our own products, wouldn't the profits be higher? Right?
You can go back and make your own reports. If the three of you disagree, I believe there will be one pharmaceutical company that agrees, and then you won't have a chance to participate. Now the initiative is in your hands."
The three medical representatives nodded seriously and went back to report to their respective boards of directors as quickly as possible.
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