Chapter 114: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1)

“SG Life manipulated public opinion?” asked Young-Joon.

“Yeah. But you’re not really surprised?” Park Joo-Hyuk replied.

“Well, I kind of knew about it.”

“You knew?”

Rather, it was Park Joo-Hyuk who was surprised.

Young-Joon nodded. Lim Gil-Won had already told him about it when they had drinks before. Lim Gil-Won had hinted to Young-Joon that SG Life was trying to covertly harm him by making it seem like A-Gen was secretly selling genetic test results to insurance companies and others.

“But it’s nice that we found evidence.”

Young-Joon slowly read through the documents Park Joo-Hyuk brought.

“It’s not that difficult to find evidence like this. SG Life probably knew that they were going to get caught. But the reason that major companies do things like this is because it’s better for their business to eliminate a competitor by smearing their image than being sued and fighting in court.”

“Probably.”

“But they completely failed since the public is supporting you after the announcement of A-Gen Life. If SG Life starts a big court battle right now, they will be taken out.”

“Hm.”

“What should we do?” asked Park Joo-Hyuk.

“I don’t have any particular feelings towards them. I’m not angry either.”

“Meaning that we should destroy them without any personal feelings?”

A grin slowly appeared on Young-Joon’s face. Park Joo-Hyuk knew him all too well.

Park Joo-Hyuk said, “This isn’t the first time that SG Life has eliminated their competitors or kept them in check this way. Someone needs to put a stop to this vicious cycle.”

Like how birds of a feather flocked together, Park Joo-Hyuk was also very by the book and strict about ethics, although it wasn’t as severe as Young-Joon.

“Alright. Then I’ll leave this to the A-Bio legal team. And there are more people you can use.”

“The A-Gen legal team?”

“Yeah. It’s much bigger than our legal team since it’s an older and bigger company. I’ll let Mr. Yoon know, and you can lead both teams and fight.”

“Got it.”

* * *

Under Park Joo-Hyuk’s lead, A-Gen’s legal team began attacking SG Life based on the evidence they had collected so far. They handed out press releases and made the situation as noisy as possible.

[Not just A-Gen, but all science and engineering labs around the world prevent data from being released by security programs. This is because it can be detrimental to companies if important technology is leaked. Secure Groupware, the security firm for A-Gen’s laboratories, has stated that there is no record of data being released from the Genetic Testing Department.]

[Even employees cannot easily view personal information as the genetic testing data becomes encrypted after being sent to the customer. Personal information can be automatically discarded if the customer wants.]

[It has been discovered that SG Life manipulated public opinion by insinuating that CEO Ryu Young-Joon sold customer data illegally...]

This attack was like a nuclear missile to SG Life, which was already losing ground due to the emergence of A-Gen Life. Day after day, they began being berated by the media, rallies, and the public. Hwang Joon-Young, the CEO of SG Life, took responsibility for everything and resigned. Executives like Baek Joong-Hyuk were also punished.

The main shareholders of the company began looking for the problem-solver who helped SG Life overcome many crises.

“Where is Director Lim?”

They called Lim Gil-Won at the board meeting, but he did not show up. It was because he was meeting Young-Joon.

The little bit of attachment Lim Gil-Won had left for his company completely disappeared after this incident. Now, he was deeply moved by A-Gen Life’s ideas and aspirations.

“You want to join A-Gen Life?” Young-Joon asked.

“Yes. After joining SG Life through open recruitment, I was promoted to senior executive director in just twenty-two years. SG Life was not a huge insurance company when I joined, but it is now the best company in the industry. I have contributed quite a lot to the company’s development,” Lim Gil-Won said.

Young-Joon investigated Lim Gil-Won separately after the meeting Kim Young-Hoon had prepared. He was a celebrity in the insurance industry that everyone knew about. Not only did he get promoted to senior executive director at a young age without any connections, he had solved difficult problems that arose in the company’s management.

“But you have come to the wrong place if you want a guaranteed job,” Young-Joon said. “I contributed a lot in founding A-Gen Life, and I am practically the owner, but I have no intention of participating in management. I have left most of the process to Mr. Yoon. I think you should be talking to him about this.”

“I know. However, you don’t trust Mr. Yoon that much, do you?” Lim Gil-Won asked frankly.

“Me?”

“Mr. Ryu, I have been doing business for a long time. I know a lot about A-Gen and Mr. Yoon. I don’t think he is the type of person you will like.”

A little intrigued, Young-Joon listened to Lim Gil-Won go on.

“A-Gen is a pharmaceutical company, so you will have to hire a professional manager to run an insurance company like A-Gen Life. And at least for the first step, I think things will only proceed if you have confidence, not Mr. Yoon. That is why I came here.”

Lim Gil-Won was clearly smart. He was skilled at reading someone’s mind. Young-Joon had left everything to Yoon Dae-Sung, but he was going to participate in hiring the CEO in any way possible. Lim Gil-Won had predicted that and come here.

However, Young-Joon wanted the process to be fair, as people more skilled than Lim Gil-Won could have applied through Yoon Dae-Sung.

“Please tell Mr. Yoon that you are applying for the CEO position. I cannot choose anything on my own right now,” Young-Joon said.

“Alright.”

“I hope you can lead A-Gen Life, Director Lim.”

* * *

The summer was over. As the weather was getting cold, Young-Joon was reading a report on the success of the AIDS treatment in Phase Three. In just a few months, products that had been in the final stages of approval were getting successful results one by one. As he had tried many drugs at once, results poured out simultaneously as well. There were a total of five pipelines that had been commercialized.

1. The Alzheimer’s cure based on induced pluripotent stem cells.

2. Cellicure, a liver cancer cure.

3. Birnafan, a pancreatic cancer cure.

4. Amuc, a type 2 diabetes cure.

5. The AIDS cure based on induced pluripotent stem cells.

All of them were shocking, but the most impactful one was Amuc. In just two months of its commercialization, Amuc became as famous as aspirin. It was because the number of patients was overwhelmingly higher than all other diseases combined. Ten percent of people in Korea, which had a relatively low obesity rate, had diabetes. Ninety percent of those diabetes patients had type 2 diabetes. The incidence of diabetes was highest in the Middle East and northern Africa, where urbanization was rapidly progressing. Western countries already had a high incidence due to their food culture.

The world’s diabetic population was approaching five hundred million, and Amuc, a drug that could cure most of them, showed overwhelming authority among the drugs A-Bio had developed so far.

“Let’s give up on insulin,” David, the CEO of Conson & Colson, said on the day the FDA approved Amuc.

The company that produced the most insulin syringes was Conson & Colson. David had tears in his eyes, but he cut off insulin quickly and coldly.

“No matter how convenient we make injectable drugs, it cannot ever beat orally administered drugs. The pressure of having to pierce the skin with a needle is very different from taking something,” he said. “Maybe if insulin syringes were better than Amuc in some aspects, but Amuc has fewer side effects and much better efficacy. Instead, let’s focus on making a replica of Amuc.”

David’s prediction was correct; just two months after its appearance, Amuc replaced most of the insulin market.

A similar column appeared in USA Today and The New York Times.

[It has been two months after Amuc’s appearance. 80% of type 2 diabetes patients have seen effects.

Insulin injections are difficult to administer. Since it’s an injection, it requires pre-administration processes such as shaking the solvent, disinfecting the needle with alcohol, attaching it to the syringe, and removing air bubbles by spritzing a small amount.

However, all Amuc requires is popping out the tiny pill out of the casing and swallowing it with water. It does not have a sharp pain like an insulin injection does.

Most of all, the best thing about Amuc is that it is easy to store and carry. It is much smaller than an insulin injection, which is about as long as a finger. It is also stable for years at room temperature unlike insulin, which has to be refrigerated.

Amuc has already replaced 80% of the insulin market, and insulin injections are expected to disappear from the pharmaceutical industry forever in the near future, and...]

A-Gen Life had also safely launched. Lim Gil-Won, who had finished his work at SG Life with haste in a few months, became the CEO despite lots of competition.

—Mr. Ryu, take a look at this.

One day, Lim Gil-Won sent Young-Joon an email.

“I already saw it,” Young-Joon replied calmly, but he was actually quite happy.

Lim Gil-Won had sent him a huge statistics article in foreign media.

Since he was looking at it, he decided to read it again.

[It has been ten months since the appearance of Doctor Ryu Young-Joon, the supernova in the scientific community. How has the world changed? The future of medicine seen through an index.

—Eight hundred thousand eyes that were blinded by glaucoma around the world regained vision.

—Eight thousand forty-two Alzheimer’s patients have regained their cognitive functioning.

—One thousand one hundred seven pancreatic cancer patients were discharged after confirming the complete death of the cancer tissue.

—At least two thousand liver cancer patients were discharged after receiving Cellicure.

—The number of people who have received genetic testing at A-Gen has surpassed eight million. 1.7 million of them are foreigners.

—The number of people who bought A-Gen Life’s insurance product has surpassed two million. More than forty insurance companies that carry insurance products similar to A-Gen Life have appeared in the United States and Europe.

—A-Gen’s market capitalization has exceeded Conson & Colson.

—HIV infection rates in countries where HIV eradication is prioritized, including Eswatini, Lesotho, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, have turned negative. The spread has been perfectly controlled through diagnostic kits, vaccines, and cures, and patients have been cured by stem cell therapy.

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

—At least two hundred fifty million diagnostic kits have been sold, and at least four hundred thousand people have been treated in hospitals after finding dangerous diseases as a result of using these kits.

It was truly moving. Young-Joon had seen numerous patients, including Son Soo-Young, shed tears after being treated in clinical trials. It was touching then, but it was more intense this time. Young-Joon, who was a scientist inside-out, was even more amazed at the quantified data.

Buzz!

Young-Joon’s phone rang. It was Professor Carpentier. Usually, he only contacted Young-Joon about research-related things, and it was always through email. It was because it was easy to show him pictures and videos.

“Hello?”

Young-Joon picked up the phone.

—Hahaha, congratulations, sir.

“Pardon?”

—Did you know that I have studied in Sweden before?

“Sweden? Why Sweden all of a sudden?”

—One of my friends who I went to school with is one of the key members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Do you know what kind of institution it is?

“No?”

—It is the institution that awards the Nobel Prize.

“Kuk...”

It was usually called the Nobel Foundation or the Nobel Committee. Young-Joon, who wasn’t very interested in it, hadn’t heard of the actual name of the institution until now.

—Every year around September and October, the Nobel Committee contacts famous university professors, past Nobel Prize recipients, and essential members of the academy. They ask for recommendations for nominees.

“... No...”

—My friend recommended you, Mr. Ryu. And from what I’m hearing, it wasn’t just him. It feels strange; I think you can look forward to it.