Chen Xia has a headache.
Since he wanted to ride on the popularity, he had already made preparations.
Immediately after Marit made those politically correct remarks at the press conference, Chen Xia also held a second press conference.
And at this press conference, Chen Xia found another ally, Novartis Pharmaceuticals of Switzerland, the patent owner of cyclosporine.
Now the war of words between the two sides is no longer just an academic dispute, but has evolved into a "social phenomenon", triggering a nationwide discussion.
After all, the high cost of medicine and the difficulty in seeing a doctor are not only problems in China, but are also a big problem in Europe and the United States. Insurance companies, social welfare agencies, national medical insurance bureaus, etc. are also troubled by this.
Different interest groups are pushing this nationwide discussion behind the scenes, hoping to seize the opportunity to win more public support.
Of course, the happiest people are the journalists, who receive red envelopes for writing articles.
Especially the red envelopes from Xiangjiang Pumpkin Vine Pharmaceutical Company, which are well-known in the media circle for their generosity, so more reporters came to the second press conference.
At the press conference, a huge drawing board with anti-rejection drugs was displayed behind Chen Xia. The names of the drugs were particularly large, making them easy to see at a glance.
Then Chen Xia stood in front of these drawing boards and explained to the reporters one by one the functions, benefits and advantages of these medicines.
"You can look at this drug, for example, mycophenolate mofetil capsules, which are used to prevent organ rejection in patients receiving allogeneic kidney or liver transplants. It is very effective when used in conjunction with cyclosporine A or tacrolimus and corticosteroids."
When the president of Novartis Pharmaceuticals on the stage heard Chen Xia mention their drugs, he also smiled and nodded.
"Do you know how much Xiangjiang Pumpkin Vine Pharmaceuticals spent on developing just this one drug?"
Chen Xia took out another thick stack of financial reports and shook them:
"This drug has been researched for seven years by Zhijiang Medical University in China, and then further researched by the Pumpkin Vine Pharmaceutical Company's laboratory for another three years, costing nearly $80 million to successfully develop.
Do you know how much Professor Marritt originally offered me when he wanted our patent? Only $10 million. But the R&D cost of my drug alone was $80 million, not even factoring in the currency conversion.
We don't just have mycophenolate mofetil; we also have tacrolimus, sirolimus, everolimus, rabbit anti-human T-lymphocyte immunoglobulin, etc.
The research and development of these drugs cost Pumpkin Vine Pharmaceuticals a total of nearly $500 million, which is almost all of the profits the company has generated over the years.
Do you think this patent transfer is fair? We are a company, and all our R&D funds are our own, with no government support and no taxpayer money spent. And they just want patents, so they can just give them away?
If it were you, would you agree? Professor Marit is clearly committing a robbery!"
After saying that, Chen Xia waved his fist excitedly.
The flashlights of the reporters on the scene flashed one after another, and the camera lens at the back also gave Chen Xia close-ups.
The names of the medicines behind Chen Xia were also delivered to thousands of households around the world along with the report of this press conference, which was a natural free advertisement.
Now everyone knows what drug Pumpkin Vine Company invented, what its effects are, how much it costs, etc.
Rather than a press conference, it is more like a disguised product launch.
Gerns, president of Novartis Pharmaceuticals of Switzerland, was also very angry. He took over the microphone after Chen Xia finished speaking.
"Professor Marit said that the production cost of cyclosporine is only $1 per pill, but the selling price is $50. This is completely misleading and misleading to the public.
Is the cost of our drugs only the production cost? As Chen just said, they need $80 million to develop a drug, and that's in a place like China where prices and labor costs are relatively low.
In Switzerland, the cost is even higher. Novartis invested $150 million in developing cyclosporine. Isn't that the cost of the drug? Shouldn't that be reflected in the price?
And please note that we did not develop only cyclosporine at the beginning. We were developing as many as 10 drugs at the same time, with a total cost of more than US$1 billion. In the end, only one drug was successful, so our actual R&D cost should be US$1 billion.
We would like to ask Professor Marit: As a renowned physician, don't you know that the cost of a drug includes production, R&D, and sales? Why does he dare to publicly mislead the public?
So he's not stupid, he's just pure evil, stirring up conflict between the public and pharmaceutical companies. This is unethical, and we at Novartis will sue Professor Marit for defaming our company."
Wow~~~~
There was another commotion among the reporters at the scene. This was the second international pharmaceutical company to file a lawsuit against Professor Marit. It seemed that Marit was in big trouble this time.
Chen Xia and Gaines smiled at each other.
The next day, headlines in the media included "Who Bears the R&D Costs of Pharmaceutical Companies?", "Professor Marritt Misleads the Public", "The Secrets of the Drug Development Process Revealed", and "Should the Government Pay for R&D Costs?"
Well, public opinion has reversed for the third time.
It made everyone dizzy, and it seemed that what Pumpkin Vine Pharmaceuticals and Novartis Pharmaceuticals said made sense.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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