Homo Sapiens

Tian Hemeng wasn’t too concerned about the visits from the numerous pharmaceutical companies.

After all, for a business like test kits, every country had substitute products. Their detection speed was just slower, taking about ten to twenty minutes.

The reason all parties had their eyes on Qingye Medical’s test kits was the recent emergence of new viral strains, for which no other rapid tests were immediately available.

After all, research and development takes time.

And the unit price for this latest, standalone rapid test kit was also the highest, with a factory price of 500 Jin per box.

If it were just 500 Jin, the pharmaceutical companies would have accepted it. The problem was that Qingye Pharmaceutical was adamant that payment must be made in Jin.

This made the companies with no Jin reserves both furious and frantic.

However, with these test kits, it was currently a seller’s market, and they had no room to negotiate.

Just as Xiaolin Yafu, Park Haotze, and Xie Heping of BGI Genomics were slowly trying to find a way in...

Qingye Pharmaceutical posted another announcement on its official website.

Staring at the latest announcement on Qingye Medical’s official website, Xie Heping and the expert on his team, Yang Shuye, looked at each other in dismay.

”Dr. Yang, what do you make of this?”

Yang Shuye’s brow was also furrowed. ”They’ve actually developed miracle drugs for AIDS and rabies? Is that even possible?”

Skeptical, Yang Shuye looked up information on the drug’s developer, Li Qingye, and found that he was only a master’s graduate who had published just a few genetics-related papers with low impact factors.

”He also studied for a doctorate under Iron Holly? Why didn’t he graduate?”

Xie Heping, who knew a little of the inside story, said with a dry laugh, ”Apparently there was some family trouble, so he went abroad and founded Qingye Group.”

”He’s the founder of Qingye Group?” Yang Shuye’s expression of disdain vanished.

After all, Qingye Group’s position in Hongsawaddy was significant. Whether he had developed the drugs himself was no longer important. Yang Shuye mused, ”Since they dare to sell the drugs publicly, it proves these two miracle drugs must be effective. I just wonder how severe the side effects are.”

”Forget it. AIDS and rabies aren’t the focus of this negotiation anyway,” Xie Heping said, shaking his head.

Their biggest headache right now was how to scrape together several hundred million Jin to purchase the latest test kits.

...

「Meanwhile.」

As the country in Southeast Asia most severely affected by AIDS, Siam’s Zhengda Company was, for its part, very interested in the miracle drug for AIDS.

The company’s negotiator, Xie Bin, once again came to negotiate with Tian Hemeng.

”Regarding the test kit procurement, we’ve only been able to gather 30 million Jin. Is it possible to use US Dollars or Euros to cover part of it?” Xie Bin said, attempting to persuade Tian Hemeng.

But Tian Hemeng shook her head. However, she immediately proposed another plan:

”Doesn’t Zhengda have a batch of decommissioned feed production lines? Our parent company is interested in taking them over. Name your price!”

”What?” Xie Bin was stunned for a moment, then quickly recovered. ”You want to acquire those old production lines?”

”Why? Have you already sold them?”

”No, no. I need to check with headquarters.”

Tian Hemeng nodded. ”That’s fine.”

Xie Bin quickly found an empty office to call the Bangkok headquarters. After a conversation of more than twenty minutes, he had a clear picture of the situation and had received authorization from the chairman.

Returning to the negotiation room, he began.

”Our company currently has eight old production lines. The equipment is in good condition, and these lines can process approximately 1.6 to 3.2 million tons of feed annually.”

A professional appraiser from the head office, standing at Tian Hemeng’s side, immediately asked about various details and finally gave a quote.

million Jin.

’230 million?’ Xie Bin calculated mentally. ’The price is acceptable. After all, these are old production lines, and the other party is very professional. This price is basically what I had in mind.’

However, the cost of the test kits he needed to procure this time was quite high.

This included 500,000 boxes of the new test kits (at a unit price of 500 Jin, for a total of 250 million Jin). Even if he canceled the other test kits, he would still need to pay 250 million Jin.

Moreover, he had also seen the miracle drug for AIDS, priced at 50,000 Jin per box.

The number of people infected with AIDS in Siam was around 500,000, approximately 1% of the country’s total population.

In reality, factoring in those who deliberately concealed their condition or were unaware of their infection, the actual number of infected people was likely even higher.

According to the detailed drug efficacy report Xie Bin received from Tian Hemeng, one box of Ai Qingling contained 36 pills. It could completely eradicate the AIDS virus from the body in just three days, with an additional day of medication to enhance the therapeutic effect.

In other words, this wasn’t a palliative drug like those from Western pharmaceutical companies, but a curative one.

Although the side effects of Ai Qingling included hypoglycemia, coma, minor liver damage, and allergic purpura, compared to a complete cure, most patients would probably be willing to endure them.

Xie Bin estimated that as long as the drug’s effectiveness was confirmed, patients in Siam would save every penny to buy it.

This was a market of at least 500,000 boxes, but 500,000 boxes of Ai Qingling would cost 25 billion Jin.

The other new drug, Rabies Killer, was also priced at 50,000 Jin per box and was also a curative treatment.

As is well known, rabies can only be prevented by a prompt vaccination immediately after being bitten by a cat or dog. Once the rabies virus reaches the brain, it is considered incurable.

Rabies Killer, however, was not only effective immediately after a bite but could also produce therapeutic effects even during the cerebral infection stage.

However, the side effects were quite severe, including delirium, intense headaches, and even permanent loss of taste. It was best used under hospital supervision after anesthesia—a typical special prescription drug.

After careful consideration, Xie Bin adjusted his procurement plan and also demanded that Qingye Medical grant Zhengda Company the agency rights for Siam.

Tian Hemeng had no objection to this. Granting regional agency rights was a common strategy for major pharmaceutical companies.

The two parties reached an agreement. Qingye Medical would grant Zhengda Company exclusive agency rights for its drugs and medical supplies in Siam. In return, Zhengda Company would purchase 200,000 boxes of the new test kits and 1,000 boxes of the AIDS miracle drug, Ai Qingling, from Qingye Medical, for a total contract value of 150 million Jin.

Meanwhile, Qingye Group would purchase the eight second-hand feed production lines from Zhengda Company for a contract value of 230 million Jin.

The two parties settled the transaction through Qingye Bank. Zhengda Company opened a corporate account with Qingye Bank and deposited the remaining 80 million Jin there for the time being.

In fact, Xie Bin knew that if the test kits and drugs performed as expected, the remaining 80 million Jin in Zhengda Company’s account would be nowhere near enough.

He had also clearly seen through some of Hongsawaddy’s intentions.

If Qingye Group’s products remained this competitive, the schemes of outsiders to extract Gold from Hongsawaddy would likely prove very difficult.

Take the new test kits, Ai Qingling, and Rabies Killer, for example. Southeast Asia and the whole world needed them, and for this kind of exclusive business, substitute products couldn’t be found so easily.

Right now, testing and medical companies from various countries were still in Yangon, trying to wheedle and pester their way to a deal.

It was precisely because they couldn’t find substitutes that they were completely at the mercy of Qingye Medical.

After Zhengda Company became the first to take the plunge, others followed.

Soon, Homo Sapiens Company also completed its negotiations with Qingye Group. The two sides also used a barter system to complete the transaction.

Homo Sapiens Company provided a shipment of Iron Bamboo Reinforcement, a batch of Inland River Methane Transport Ships, and Methane Storage Tanks.

Although they had the same behind-the-scenes boss, the ordinary employees underneath didn’t know about the connection between the two, so this cooperation had to be conducted openly and aboveboard.

With one deal being struck after another, the remaining companies started to feel a bit anxious.