Chapter 83: A-Bio Cancer Laboratory (7)

The way Conson & Colson was going to secure stakes in the A-Bio Cancer Laboratory... David didn’t think Young-Joon would give it to him that easily, but it really wasn’t simple.

“Conson & Colson have a patent for the Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell Therapy, one of the third-generation cancer immunotherapies. Schumatix originally had it, but it was transferred to Conson & Colson.”

‘No...’

David felt dizzy.

‘Please not that technology.’

This technology was basically the future of Conson & Colson.

David’s heart began beating wildly. He tried to keep a calm face.

Young-Joon said, “Please transfer that international patent to the A-Bio Cancer Laboratory. Then, I will give you shares.”

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR-T therapy, was a technology where one used immune cells to eliminate cancer. There was a mechanism in the body where immune cells tracked down cancer cells and destroyed them. It was a natural defense that the human body used to remove cancer on its own, and the chimeric immunotherapy helped that work better.

The process was extremely complicated. They would have to harvest T-cells, a type of immune cells, from the body and then manipulate their DNA. Then, they would attach a material that would allow the T-cell to recognize cancer cells better. And after the T-cells were injected into the body, they would find the cancer cells and destroy them. It was a treatment method that was in the spotlight because it was especially effective on blood cancers like lymphoma and was relatively safe.

The problem was the price. It cost four hundred fifty thousand dollars for a single procedure. That was over four hundred million won in Korea.

“But I can drastically reduce the price of that treatment. And I can increase the efficiency as well.”

“How?” David asked.

“Because I have Cas9 and stem cell manipulation,” said Young-Joon. “Because we have stem cell technology, we do not have to extract immune cells from the patient. We can just make stem cells from the patient, differentiate it into bone marrow, and mass produce immune cells from there since immune cells are made from bone marrow.”

“...”

“And like we manipulated CCR5 with Cas9 to cure HIV, we can genetically engineer them to their most optimal state so that the immune cells can kill cancer cells better.”

“That’s... true...”

“Conson & Colson made it so that people couldn’t work on it easily by heavily raising the royalties on patent for the technology. It seems like you wanted to study it exclusively at Conson & Colson.”

“Honestly, yes. That’s right”

“But A-Bio has stem cells and Cas9. Conson & Colson will not be able to commercialize that. So, transfer it to us. We will let that technology see light.”

“Isn’t that the same for A-Bio as well? You have stem cells and Cas9, but not our technology.”

“We can develop another technology that bypasses the patent for the chimeric immunotherapy. I just think it’s a waste of time.”

“...”

‘This man talks about making a new technology like he’s going to fry an egg or something.’

But the problem was that Young-Joon actually succeeded. Again, he said it without any evidence, but there was a power to it that could not be ignored. What if he really did develop a technology that bypassed chimeric immunotherapy? Then, Conson & Colson really wouldn’t be able to get anything.

“If we transfer the technology to you, how much shares of the cancer lab are you going to give us?”

“We will give you two percent.”

“Two percent! Only two percent?”

“It’s not just two percent. I am giving you an amazing deal because you may be able to give us your help when we go to America.”

“Mr. Ryu, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy is the most important technology among three third-generation immunotherapies. You also know that, right?”

“But the only place it will be able to see light is A-Bio. If you just leave it like that, it will not be an important technology, it will die as a technology that could have been important. I am giving you a lot of shares by buying it at two percent.”

“What are you going to do if I refuse?”

“Then like I said, I will develop a different technology,” Young-Joon said. “And you will greatly regret that you lost the chance of a lifetime to secure two percent of shares of the A-Bio Cancer Laboratory. You may also be questioned during your board meeting.”

“Phew...” David let out a deep breath.

How big was the potential value of the A-Bio Cancer Laboratory? The chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy was a technology with high potential value rather than being an excellent profit model right now. To be honest, it was true right now that it would only transform into something actually useful if it went through A-Bio.

“But to exchange two percent of shares of your lab with the chimeric immunotherapy...”

“You are good at making bold decisions, aren’t you, Mr. CEO?” Young-Joon grinned. “You don’t get a second chance for this.”

“This is not something I can decide on my own.”

“You can give me an answer after discussing it thoroughly at the board meeting.”

“I will think about it because you did really show us that you can cure pancreatic cancer. I will use that as evidence and bring it up during the next meeting,” David said.

* * *

A-Bio, which was always in the spotlight, received the most attention with its HIV eradication project. Even before that died down, news even bigger than that came pouring.

About a few weeks after Young-Joon returned from America, the door to targeting cancer had finally opened.

[A-Bio’s pancreatic cancer cure succeeds in Phase One of clinical trials.]

The first news that came out was about the pancreatic cancer cure. Phase One of its clinical trial, which was being carried out in Korea and America simultaneously, had already made significant progress when Young-Joon met Professor Feng Zhang. The same results came from Korea as well.

However, considering the time, it was not yet the point to declare the clinical trial a success. But there were two reasons why this kind of news was coming out.

The first was that the prognosis was quite good. The patient’s cancer cells died rapidly in a short amount of time, and the cure was highly efficient. Reporters ended up choosing provocative buzz words because they wanted to report on it as fast as possible.

The second reason was because of the huge breaking news in the United States. Like how everyone followed the popular kid, Korean reporters had hopped on the bandwagon and took the opportunity to release the news about the pancreatic cancer cure. The news in the United States was obviously the announcement of the establishment of the A-Bio Cancer Laboratory.

[A-Bio signs contract to build a cancer laboratory in Maryland.]

[Federal government promises three million dollars a year in funding.]

[The National Cancer Institute to provide all its gathered data and technology.]

[Conson & Colson signs contract to transfer patent for chimeric immunotherapy to the A-Bio Cancer Laboratory.]

[Conson & Colson gives up rights to the most famous third-generation immunotherapy and joins forces with A-Bio.]

[The first step to the great achievement of conquering cancer.]

On top of that, the address Young-Joon gave at the groundbreaking ceremony of the A-Bio Cancer Laboratory spread through the media.

“Cancer is a difficult and complex disease with almost an infinite number of variables. But A-Bio has developed a medicine that cures pancreatic cancer, the most difficult type of cancer, and was greatly successful in the first phase of the clinical trial,” Young-Joon said. “From now, we will destroy all types of cancers: liver cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, brain tumors, ovarian cancer, leukemia, skin cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, esophageal cancer, thyroid cancer, and more. We may not be able to get them all in a day, but we will conquer them one by one and open the doors to a cancer-free world in the near future.

The world was turned upside down again.

—Holy shit.

—I just called 1301. This is the number I should call to report my national pride right? Cause it’s making me high.[1]

—National pride is literally giving me hallucinations. I had a dream about him yesterday.

—The American government is giving them three million dollars yearly. What is our government doing...

—Have you ever seen the Korean government invest in fundamental science before? And our government doesn’t have any money.

—But our government quietly gave A-Bio ten billion won when it was first opened. Don’t hate on them so much.

—But is Conson & Colson high or something? Why did they do that all of a sudden? They just gave their key technology to their most powerful competitor.

—I think they aligned themselves. Smart choice.

Kim Hyun-Taek, the director of Lab One, grit his teeth as he read the posts that were coming up in Young-Joon’s fan club

“He’s building a cancer lab?” he said.

On the other side of the table, Doctor Kim Joo-Yeon, the principal scientist in the Anticancer Drug Research Department, sat there with a tense face.

“It’s weird,” Kim Hyun-Taek said. “Whatever about the pancreatic cancer cure. Sure, the U.S. federal government can support Ryu Young-Joon. But Conson & Colson is handing over the chimeric immunotherapy? For just a sliver of shares? What do you think, Doctor Kim?”

“It’s very strange. I’m wondering if Doctor Ryu made some sort of deal when he went to America.”

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

“From what I know, Conson & Colson were going to install Illemina’s diagnostic devices in hospitals around the country to dominate the diagnostics market, then pressure Young-Joon to take a lot of shares of the lab. This was how the scenario was going to go.”

“If that happened, we could have turned around the atmosphere by leaking a headline that the cancer lab isn’t actually Ryu Young-Joon’s, but Conson & Colson’s, an American company.”

“I know. But there’s nothing like that, and they even gave them chimeric immunotherapy? This looks like they are supporting them. They are making someone who is already powerful stronger. What happened?”

“To be honest, I don’t really know because it’s so unexpected...”

Kim Hyun-Taek brushed through his hair like he was frustrated.

“He is going to be dangerous if we leave him be. He used to be a cancer scientist. He went back to his field of expertise. With the help of the U.S. federal government, the world’s best research institute, and the largest pharma company in the world.”

“You have to do something,” Kim Joo-Yeon said. “Sir, the center of cancer research will no longer be in our department. It will be transferred to Ryu Young-Joon’s cancer lab.”

“...”

“Ryu Young-Joon is already being mentioned for the next CTO. He is more popular than you. If you give him the anticancer drug field in this situation...”

“The reason why Conson & Colson turned to supporting Ryu Young-Joon. Does it have anything to do with the diagnostic kit he is developing?” Kim Hyun-Taek asked.

“I don’t know for sure, but I think it will.”

“I should go down there.”

Kim Hyun-Taek got up from his seat. He put his coat on and went to the Mobile Diagnostic Device Research Department with Principal Scientist Kim Joo-Yeon.

“Who is the scientist that is working with Doctor Ryu?” Kim Hyun-Taek asked Principal Scientist Song Yu-Ra.

“Are you talking about Doctor Park So-yeon?”

“Park So-Yeon? Take me to her.”

* * *

Park So-Yeon was looking at Young-Joon’s experimental data on her laptop. It was truly fascinating and extraordinary. The idea of diagnosing DNA with Cas9 was so innovative, and his potential that pushed that idea and got results was amazing as well. The mechanism that DNA is amplified at room-temperature was shocking. Everything was just so surprising. It was only in its development stages, but it really was an amazing item. The structure of the whole diagnostics field was going to be reformed.

‘This probably affected Conson & Colson’s decision.’

This item could potentially be a more powerful item than the pancreatic cancer cure.

“Doctor Park So-Yeon.”

Someone called for her as they came inside. Startled, she instantly turned off her laptop.

“Director?”

“I came here because I want to ask you something.”

Kim Hyun-Taek approached her.

“I want to see the experiment notes for the diagnostic kit that you and Doctor Ryu from A-Bio are developing together.”

“Um... That is...”

“Hurry. This is important. I have to know what it does.”

Park So-Yeon hesitated.

“O-One moment.”

Click.

Park So-Yeon turned on her laptop. She followed the directory to find the experiment data and opened a few folders. She felt like cold sweat was running down her neck as Kim Hyun-Taek glared at her.

‘Wait.’

Park So-Yeon stopped.

‘Is it right for me to give this to him?’

Park So-Yeon also didn’t know any information about the Cas9 variant, which was the most essential part of the diagnostics kit. It was because Young-Joon was strict about the security regarding that information, which was the most important. She had heard that only the members of the Life Creation Team knew that in A-Bio as well. As such, there was a low probability that it would cause a problem for Young-Joon even if she revealed the information she knew. And no one would be able to do anything because it is just before completion.

But did that mean she could give this information to him? This experimental data was developed by Young-Joon borrowing the samples and facilities at the Diagnostic Device Research Department as the CEO of A-Bio; it was not a collaborative research between labs, so it had nothing to do with Kim Hyun-Taek.

‘Would Ryu Young-Joon have given it to him?’

Park So-Yeon didn’t hope to get back with him or anything now. This was a different matter; it was not because of personal feelings. The scientists here had learned something from Young-Joon, and she had learned it better and harder than anyone else.

Park So-Yeon hesitated, then said in a quiet voice, “I... I’m sorry... But I don’t have it...”

“You don’t have it?”

Kim Hyun-Taek frowned.

“...”

“Talk clearly.”

“...gainst...”

“What?”

“Against research ethics...”

1. 1301 is the number in Korea to report drug-related crimes. ?