Chapter 65: The Biological Gene Lock

Li Fu had absolute confidence in the super rice virus he had developed. On Earth, aside from himself, it was utterly impossible for anyone else to breed a super rice virus from the MiMi virus, simply because they lacked the advanced cultivation techniques and, more importantly, did not understand that primal energy was the best stimulant for life.

Now, the fact that Pfizer Pharmaceuticals had their hands on the super rice virus could only mean it had leaked from Li Fu's side. When Liu Yi informed Li Fu of the situation, a thorough investigation was also conducted at the National Center for Disease Control's biological laboratory, which ruled out any possibility of a leak from their end.

In the end, Li Fu recalled the incident at the hospital. After Liu Yi had his people look into it, the truth quickly surfaced: Tao Yan, who had stolen the new drug, was swiftly apprehended and confessed to having traded the drug for twenty million Huaxia yuan.

Yet Li Fu told his mentor, Liu Yi, not to worry and to simply sit back and enjoy the unfolding drama. As he noticed Fang Zheng’s anxious expression, Li Fu remained equally self-assured and offered comfort.

“Old Fang, don’t worry. Everything at the company should proceed as usual. They can’t steal what’s mine.”

“But they’ve already announced they can launch the new drug on a large scale, and they’re accepting global orders. By the time our drug hits the market, no one will buy it anymore,” Fang Zheng fretted, feeling like an ant on a hot pan, unmoved by Li Fu’s reassurance.

“We should pull out our remaining investments. That way, you’ll at least have something left, and you won’t lose your entire fortune,” Fang Zheng advised after much deliberation. Li Fu had always appreciated Fang Zheng’s support and never interfered with his policies or management, placing complete trust in him. Fang Zheng felt obligated to think of an escape route for Li Fu.

“Old Fang, don’t worry. There’s no way we’ll lose everything. Their new drug won’t make it to market. The more orders Pfizer takes, the bigger their losses will be in the end,” Li Fu replied with a smile. Fang Zheng was not versed in the technical side, only in management, so his reaction was entirely understandable.

“Li Fu, is there some secret behind all this?” Fang Zheng asked, seeing how untroubled Li Fu appeared.

“Of course there is. This involves a specialized term in the field of biological science: the genetic lock,” Li Fu nodded, smiling faintly.

“What’s a genetic lock?” Fang Zheng’s curiosity was immediately piqued.

“The so-called genetic lock isn’t some restriction on superpowers like you read in novels. Rather, it’s a commonly used international method for product confidentiality. It’s a way to use special techniques on a biological product so others can’t reverse-engineer your genetic design from the product itself.”

“Or, it can be used to limit or amplify certain functions in genetically modified organisms to achieve specific goals. For example, by restricting the reproductive genes of a GM crop, others can’t save seeds for continued cultivation and must keep buying seeds from you. That’s how you make huge profits selling seeds.”

“Nowadays, nearly all rice, corn, and soybean seeds are first-generation products with genetic locks; they can only reproduce for one generation. Farmers have no choice but to keep buying expensive seeds from seed companies, with no real say in what they plant.”

Li Fu explained, offering Fang Zheng a crash course on genetic locks.

“I see. So, what about your super rice virus?”

“Haha, Pfizer is in for a world of trouble now.”

Suddenly enlightened by Li Fu’s explanation, Fang Zheng broke into a broad smile, unable to contain his laughter.

“In fact, I never initially intended to guard against anyone stealing my super rice virus. I merely wanted to limit its replication cycles so that, after eliminating the HIV virus in the body, any remaining super rice virus wouldn’t keep multiplying endlessly. After all, the human body never had the super rice virus before, and who knows what harm it might cause if left unchecked.”

“Haha, little did I expect someone at Pfizer to actually steal my drug and then boldly claim to have developed their own version while accepting massive global orders. It’s sheer suicide.”

“They must have thought that such a tiny virus couldn’t possibly be genetically locked. Well, Pfizer’s good days are coming to an end very soon.”

Li Fu couldn’t help but laugh heartily. What had begun as a precaution to prevent the super rice virus from replicating unchecked had now saved him from disaster. Otherwise, if Pfizer had stolen the master virus, Li Fu would have lost the entire market.

“Haha, then they really are doomed this time. From what I know, their new HIV treatment is astronomically priced at ten thousand US dollars per dose, and buyers are even required to purchase other Pfizer medications in bulk before they can get the new drug.”

“Since Pfizer announced their new drug, their stock price has multiplied several times, almost catching up to Apple, with sales soaring straight up.”

Fang Zheng laughed along, his worries melting away.

“Ten thousand dollars per dose? That’s downright heartless. Maybe we can use their pricing as a reference when we set our own prices. After all, they’re the world’s largest pharmaceutical company—there must be a reason behind such pricing.”

Li Fu gasped in disbelief at Pfizer’s sheer audacity. If the factory price was ten thousand dollars per dose, it would be double that by the time it reached patients.

“Ten thousand dollars per dose—ten thousand doses make a hundred million dollars. There are over sixty million HIV patients worldwide, and the number is rising rapidly each year. By 2020, it might exceed a hundred million. My God, these are astronomical figures!”

“No wonder people say that the world’s richest person in the future will come from the field of biomedicine. When it comes to matters of life and death, people will willingly pay whatever it takes, even if it means being fleeced.”

Fang Zheng calculated carefully. At Pfizer’s price, the market was worth trillions of dollars in the future—an unimaginably vast fortune. He couldn’t help but sigh in awe.

“That’s why, Old Fang, we should pick up the pace. The sooner our new drug hits the market, the sooner we’ll have huge sums of money flowing in, and then we can really make our mark. We wouldn’t have to worry about scraping together funds just to keep going.”

Li Fu nodded with a smile. He had long since set his sights on this enormous piece of the pie; otherwise, he would have partnered with other pharmaceutical companies already, rather than going to all the trouble of starting his own company and building his own factory.

“Yes, we need to speed up the construction,” Fang Zheng replied, a broad grin spreading across his face as he pictured a future where he could barely keep up with counting his money.

PS: Thanks to Yang Jiawei for the 10,000 reward. By the way, isn’t ten thousand dollars per dose a bit too outrageous?