Chapter 502: The United States Wants to Dig Out Lin Sanqi
1961, Dongyue Temple, Capital Infectious Disease Hospital.
It's still hot in Hong Kong, but it's already autumn in Beijing.
Bi Xinglong brought in a bamboo basket of small red fruits and delivered it to the foreign doctor's office.
Professor Anthony looked at the fruit in a strange way:
"Bi, are these Chinese apples? Why are they so small?"
Other American doctors also gathered around and were curious when they saw the basket of apples.
Carol, a female researcher, even held a small apple in her palm and happily made a "yeah" gesture.
Bi Xinglong explained with a smile:
"Professor, this is a fruit from our Peking. Its scientific name is crabapple, and it's only available in autumn. The Foreign Affairs Department sent it specially for you to try."
In the autumn of 1961, fruits were rare, and crabapples were definitely the treatment of state guests.
Professor Anthony took a crab apple and took a bite. "Hmm, sour and sweet, very delicious."
Professor Theodore, who had lost $5 million, had no appetite for the fruit and tugged at his hair frantically.
"Bi, when will your Dean Lin come back? He's been gone for over a month. Doesn't he want this hospital anymore? That's so irresponsible. Did he run away with my money?"
Bi Xinglong rolled his eyes in his heart, but still smiled as he explained:
"Professor, our Dean Lin went to Hong Kong for an academic conference and is now on his way back to the capital. If you have any needs, please let me know."
Professor Anthony smiled:
"Bi, we've been in your hospital for almost half a year. It's time to return home, so we'd like to meet with Dean Lin before we leave. Could you please send another telegram to urge Lin?"
Bi Xinglong nodded gently: "Okay, then I will go to the post office to send an expedited telegram now."
"Thank you for your help. Thank you very much."
"You're welcome!"
After Bi Xinglong left the small conference room, the Harvard Medical School team continued their previous discussion.
Assistant Blake opened his notebook and continued reporting:
"Our team has seen a total of 8,000 patients in the past six months, an average of more than 300 patients per week. We are responsible for an inpatient department with 1,100 inpatients.
We saw 1,500 patients in the first month. According to our team’s personal follow-up visits and patient follow-up visits, as of yesterday, the tuberculosis cure rate has reached an astonishing 96%.
In the second month, the same number of patients was seen, 1,600. Perhaps because the treatment course was one month shorter, the cure rate was 89%. Similarly, in the third month, the cure rate was 70%, and in the fourth month, the cure rate dropped to 42%.
Judging from this cure rate curve, the anti-tuberculosis treatment invented by China can be confirmed to have a cycle of 4 to 6 months. This is consistent with President Lin's previous assessment and also shows that China has conducted repeated clinical trials."
Assistant Clifford continued:
"We've repeatedly tested each patient with sputum cultures and chest X-rays. Now we can be absolutely certain that China has completely mastered the treatment of tuberculosis. We can declare that humanity has defeated the world's number one infectious disease."
Professor Theodore slammed the table and cursed softly: "Fuck, what kind of shit luck does China have!"
Professor Anthony looked at another assistant:
"Austin, you're in charge of drug reverse engineering. After these days of secret research, can you confirm the composition of these anti-tuberculosis drugs?"
"Okay, Professor. I've reverse-engineered the pyridoxine tablets repeatedly. I'm certain they contain isoniazid and pyrazinamide, with two or three other unknown ingredients."
Professor Anthony pondered:
"Isoniazid is a patented drug from Roche Pharmaceuticals. Pyrazinamide appeared even earlier. I believe it was invented by Kirchner. Both drugs are already on the market. China is producing them without permission. Isn't that an infringement of their patents?"
Assistant Austin gave a different opinion:
"It's difficult to determine legally whether there's infringement, because this is a compound preparation with multiple ingredients. The Chinese side has reshuffled the ingredients and redefined the pyridoxine tablet, so there's no way to determine they've infringed."
This is also a rule in the medical industry, which is equivalent to skirting the rules.
For example, a company invented omeprazole, which is very effective in inhibiting gastric acid and has generated huge economic benefits. What should other companies do if they become jealous?
But they have patent protection, so you can't just sit there and watch this big piece of fat meat go untouched, right? That wouldn't be capital.
So rabeprazole was invented. It was a structural modification of omeprazole, but the chemical structure, speed of drug efficacy, drug metabolism, acid suppression strength, and frequency of use are almost the same.
But you can't say that rabeprazole infringes on the patent of omeprazole.
When other companies saw this, they thought, "Okay, let's also take advantage of the loophole," and so pantoprazole, esomeprazole, lansoprazole, etc. appeared.
Assistant Austin reminded again:
"I checked international telegrams and found that the patent for pyrimethamine tablets is not held by China, but by a pharmaceutical company in Hong Kong. Strangely enough, that company is very secretive. Its registered address is a traditional Chinese medicine clinic. We speculate that it's a shell company in China."
Professor Theodore disagrees:
"It may not be a shell company, because Lin once said that it was the Hong Kong company that commissioned the Chinese side to conduct the clinical trial, and the two sides have a cooperative relationship. If this patent belongs to the Chinese government, I believe they will not allow us Americans to participate."
In fact, people nodded slightly after hearing this, thinking that the logic was correct.
If China invented its own anti-tuberculosis drug and even wrote a paper on it, even if there was no place to publish it, it would still be published in the national media.
It's like the fruit is ripe, how can we allow Americans to come in and interfere?
The only explanation is that the patent for the anti-tuberculosis drug is in the hands of a Xiangjiang company, and Lin Sanqi is the controller of this company.
Thinking of this, Professors Anthony and Theodore looked at each other and saw greed in each other's eyes.
This means that as long as they can get Lin Sanqi, they can not only grab the research project, but also get the drug patent. At worst, they can just throw away their pride and modify the Chinese paper and publish it in a top medical journal through connections.
According to the unspoken rules of the medical community, whoever publishes the paper first is the winner.
The core of all this is Lin Sanqi.
Professor Theodore then spoke:
"Although our own experiments have proven that China has indeed conquered tuberculosis, we absolutely cannot accept this conclusion. If Harvard Medical School recognizes this achievement, we will gain nothing and have wasted $5 million."
Assistant Carol joked, "Professor, it should be 10 million."
This remark hit Professor Theodore's sore spot again, driving him crazy again:
"Okay, forget about that damn 5 million bet. This is my personal money and it doesn't take up any of our team's funds. Now, what I want to say is that we have to find a way to lure Lin Sanqi abroad.
Only when he goes abroad can we tempt him with beauties, money, and status, just like other Chinese scientists. After experiencing the glamorous world in the United States, perhaps he will come to his senses and not want to return to China.
Assistant Blake pushed his glasses and offered advice:
"Professor, we can explain it this way: the WHO is composed of its member states. Our Harvard team acknowledges that China's tuberculosis treatment is effective, but it's far from enough because it hasn't been officially certified."
If China wants to gain international recognition, it needs to go to an internationally renowned hospital or research institute, conduct clinical trials openly in front of the global medical community, and have third-party supervision.
China is eager to gain international recognition, and now has only two options. One is to invite infectious disease experts from various countries to gather in China to witness it together. However, given that China is currently being blocked by both the East and the West, this is unlikely.
All that remains is for the Chinese medical delegation to travel abroad and find a universally recognized hospital, such as Massachusetts General Hospital, for a new round of clinical trials. To do this, Lin Sanqi, the person in charge, would definitely have to go to the United States."
(End of this chapter)
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