Chapter 164 New Science

Chapter 164 New Science

Chapter 164 New Science (Medium Cup)
5 month 25 day.

Jiang Miao received an invitation from the National Science and Technology Progress Award Review Committee, asking him and Lin Shuya to go to the Great Hall in Beijing to participate in the award ceremony on the 21st of next month.

Jiang Miao actually already knew the result. Both he and Shuya's achievements won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. The relevant award announcement was released in mid-April this year.

However, considering that Shuya still had to take care of her pregnancy and it was inconvenient for her to travel too much, he immediately sent an email to the award judging committee, stating that Lin Shuya was pregnant and could not go to Beijing to receive the award, and that he would receive it on her behalf.

Soon, the judging committee responded and agreed to let Jiang Miao accept the award, but he needed to prepare relevant acceptance speeches and achievements presentations, including Lin Shuya's award-winning "Artificial Cultivation Technology of White Truffles."

Dealt with this matter.

Jiang Miao came to the Nanhu Experimental Area.

However, he did not go to the laboratory to do experiments today. Instead, he met with Xin Kangle Pharmaceutical's general manager Yu Jiancun, technical director He Youwei, and the three doctoral researchers in the field of biochemistry and medicine.

Facing the big boss of the parent company, Yu Jiancun sat upright.

Even the three somewhat arrogant doctoral researchers felt a little pressured and restrained when facing Jiang Miao.

After all, the man in front of him is the winner of the National Science and Technology Progress First Prize, the founder of a 10 billion agricultural group, the vice president of the Seris Feed Association, and the vice president of the Aquaculture Branch of the Seris Fisheries Association, who was just awarded last month.

His wife Lin Shuya served as vice president of the Seris Edible Fungi Association in March.

Even though the three doctoral researchers felt that they were more professional than Jiang Miao in the field of medicine, they still behaved modestly out of respect for the top scientists.

"Okay, don't be so serious, relax a little." Jiang Miao said as he sat down, then turned his head and looked at He Youwei: "Youwei, you will be the technical director of Xin Kangle Pharmaceutical from now on."

"Okay, teacher." He Youwei raised her head like a chick pecking at rice.

"General Manager Yu, your job is to manage the daily operations and production of Xin Kangle Pharmaceuticals. As for the scientific research work, since it has been divested, there is no need for you to pay attention to it."

Although Yu Jiancun didn't know what Jiang Miao was thinking, as a senior employee, he was very clear about his identity and position. He just had to do whatever his boss told him to do: "Okay, Mr. Jiang."

Jiang Miao instructed nonchalantly: "The current production line of Xinkangle Pharmaceutical will continue to produce. I can afford the loss of several million every year, but the training of production staff cannot be stopped. In the future, the company will produce new drugs, and these people will be the backbone."

"I will maintain the operation of the production line and strengthen the skills training of personnel." Yu Jiancun nodded quickly.

Jiang Miao then looked at the three drug development researchers and said, "Dr. Huang, Dr. Chen, and Dr. Li, you will be affiliated with the third drug development office of the scientific research division of Hailufeng Company from now on."

"Mr. Jiang, I wonder what project we are going to develop?" Dr. Chen asked somewhat stiffly.

"The research and development direction of your Third Drug Research and Development Office is chemical drugs. I have read the resumes of several people. Dr. Chen previously worked at a pharmaceutical company researching generic drugs for Ripretinib. Am I correct?"

Hearing Jiang Miao's question, Dr. Chen smiled helplessly and said, "I am the deputy technical director of that project. Ripretinib has actually been successfully imitated, but it faces various patent problems. Currently, it can only be produced and sold by paying high patent fees."

"My previous company actually planned to invest in the research and development of tyrosine kinase-related drugs, but considering the patent issue, we gave up this direction." Dr. Huang raised his glasses.

Dr. Li smiled and said, "There is no other way. Foreign pharmaceutical companies have been planning in this area for decades, while China has only paid attention to new drug development in the past decade or so. According to the R&D and production cycle of drug research, it usually takes 10 to 15 years to launch a new drug."

Jiang Miao also understood the hidden meaning of Dr. Li. He was reminding him that the research and development and marketing of each new drug usually takes more than ten years. This is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also brings a big problem, which is the validity period of the patent.

You should know that the material patent of a drug is usually applied for in the initial stage of drug research and development. When researchers synthesize a new compound with potential medicinal value, if experimental data can prove that the compound has certain pharmacological activity or potential use, they can apply for a material patent.

This means that the patent term is calculated from the date of application. Currently, the validity period of drug patents in mainstream regions around the world is 20 years.

As long as the application date is determined, the patent term is fixed at 20 years regardless of the subsequent development progress of the drug and when it is approved for marketing.

If the research and development time of a new drug is 10 years and the approval for the new drug to be marketed is about 1 year, it means that the patent for the new drug is only valid for 9 years.

Although you can apply to extend the validity period of a patent, it can only be extended by 2.5 to 5 years.

This is also why many new drugs are very expensive when they are launched on the market, especially those niche drugs, which sometimes cost millions of dollars per dose.

Of course, in order to circumvent the issue of patent validity period, many pharmaceutical companies will adopt roundabout tactics and form patent barriers by deploying these patent families.

Because patent protection not only involves the drug itself, but also includes drug derivatives, dosage forms, routes of administration and other aspects.

It is difficult for other companies to bypass these patent barriers to conduct research and development and production.

"I know that new drug development is very difficult, and it is difficult for generic drugs to bypass the original drug manufacturers." Jiang Miao smiled and continued: "But we can make subtype new drugs."

"Subtype new drug?" Dr. Chen understood what Jiang Miao meant, but he still reminded him: "Mr. Jiang, although subtype new drugs can bypass the patents of other pharmaceutical companies, many pharmaceutical companies often register various subtype molecules together when building patent barriers. Therefore, we must have a completely new subtype molecule, which is no less than developing a new drug from scratch, and new subtype molecules may not necessarily be used as drugs."

Jiang Miao did not care too much about this problem, because he only needed to know the new molecule, and then carry out large-scale cell experiments and animal experiments to select the best dosage form with high efficiency and low side effects.

He smiled and shook his head: "It doesn't matter. Just use the tyrosine kinase inhibitors as the target for imitation. The next task for your Third Drug Development Office is to try to synthesize a completely new tyrosine kinase inhibitor subtype molecule through various synthetic methods."

Faced with the boss's stubbornness, although Dr. Chen and the other two had some thoughts in their minds, they still chose to obey orders.

Anyway, if he loses money at that time, it will be Jiang Miao's problem.

Dr. Huang raised his glasses and replied, "No problem, we can try it."

After explaining this matter.

Jiang Miao then announced the adjournment of the meeting.

Yu Jiancun returned to Yangcheng to take charge of the management of Xin Kangle Pharmaceutical.

However, He Youwei did not go with him. Her position as technical director was indeed just a figurehead, so she continued to research specific drugs for lupus erythematosus in the Nanhu Experimental Area, and her project belonged to the Second Drug Research and Development Office of the Science and Technology Division.

As for the First Drug Research and Development Office, it is currently managed by Shuya, and the researcher who leads the research and development work is Shuya’s senior brother Luo Yulin.

The three drug research and development offices have different research and development directions.

The direction of the First Drug Development Office is: Medicinal Microorganisms.

The direction of the Second Drug Research and Development Office is: gene target drugs.

The direction of the Third Drug Research and Development Office is: chemical pharmaceuticals.

It seems that the directions of the Second Drug Development Office and the Third Drug Development Office overlap to some extent.

In fact, the two are in completely different directions.

The gene target drugs of the Second Drug Development Office are like setting up a target first and then finding the right arrows from a pile of arrows.

As for the chemical drug development of the Third Drug Development Office, it is to first create a new arrow and then see if it can hit the target or penetrate the target.

The specific lupus erythematosus medicine that Jiang Miao prepared for He Youwei and her brother and sister was based on various existing drugs and molecular substances, and achieved its therapeutic effect through secondary combination and adjustment of proportions.

In essence, this is not drug development, but a sophisticated application of medical means.

The reason why He Youwei's research and development of a specific drug for lupus erythematosus is so difficult is because she has not yet realized this.

If gene-targeted therapeutic drugs are to be highly effective and have few side effects, they can only be customized based on an individual's genetic characteristics. This means that there is only one prescription for each person, and there is no broad-spectrum specific drug that can be mass-produced.

He Youwei didn't realize this problem, so she kept getting stuck on it.

If we really want to popularize a specific drug for treating lupus erythematosus, we should not research the specific drug, but study how to discover the genetic targets of each patient at low cost, and then customize a specific drug for each patient.

Is this technology possible?
In fact, it is already possible.

Because of the metagenetic analysis system developed by Jiang Miao in February, it is possible to quickly discover the genetic targets of each patient by simply changing the model, adjusting the corresponding genetic rules, and adding the human gene library.

Of course, this only works for patients with lupus. If you want to study other human genetic diseases, you must readjust the analysis model.

Using this technology, it only takes a few hours to obtain the various gene targets of lupus erythematosus in the patient, and then according to these gene targets, the corresponding special medicines can be prepared, so that the patient can get relatively cheap medicines. This relatively cheap means that the one-time payment of tens of thousands of yuan for testing and analysis is required, and then the medicine is purchased regularly from the special medicine production company.

In fact, this is not a pharmaceutical company model, nor a modern hospital model, but a traditional doctor model.

Diagnose the patient's condition, prescribe medicine based on the condition, and then dispense the medicine to the patient, isn't this the model of traditional doctors?

Because this model involves confidential technology, it is impossible to hand it over to ordinary hospitals for operation, and there are also risks in drug approval.

After all, in this model, every patient will get a "new drug", so how should this new drug be handled? If the current new drug approval process is followed, it is estimated that even if the patient dies, they may not be able to get a legal and compliant new drug.

But if you don’t go through the new drug approval process, it would be a crime of producing counterfeit drugs.

Unless new laws are specifically introduced to stipulate that new drugs produced in this way can obtain fast approval.

The problem is that new laws are not so easy to promote.

This is another reason why Jiang Miao did not remind He Youwei. After all, it would be difficult to promote such a change, even with He Youwei's background.

...

After the meeting.

Jiang Miao found Shuya who was working on R&D project planning.

He called Luo Yulin over again.

Luo Yulin knocked on the door and saw that they were both there. He smiled and greeted them, "Boss! Shuya, you are both here!"

"Researcher Luo, please sit down first." Jiang Miao took out a document from his briefcase.

Shuya poured him a cup of tea: "Brother, you should accompany your sister-in-law to rest for a few more days."

"Haha, I'm just concerned about the experimental project!" Luo Yulin's eyes were evasive and he changed the subject guiltily.

Jiang Miao smiled without saying anything. He could tell at a glance that Luo Yulin was a little nervous. He had just gotten married last month and was supposed to have a half-month wedding leave, but in less than ten days, he hurried back to work.

Hand the document to Luo Yulin.

"This is a new fungus that Aya discovered in April, and the paper has been published in a journal."

Lin Shuya felt helpless. Although she didn't want this title, she also knew what Jiang Miao was thinking, so she could only accept the title of "discoverer of new fungi".

Luo Yulin took the document and flipped through it, saying, "I've seen it before. Are there any problems with these three new fungi?"

Jiang Miao explained: "During an experiment some time ago, Aya discovered a type of fungus whose secondary metabolites can kill many bacteria and even have a good inhibitory effect on some fungi."

"Oh? Is it a new antibiotic?" Luo Yulin instantly became alert.

Jiang Miao reminded: "On page 17, there are some introductions."

Luo Yulin quickly turned to page 17 of the document.

【Study on the secondary metabolites of the sludge-resistant Psammonia species of the genus Psammonia of the family Microcystis…】

This mud fungus was discovered by Jiang Miao when he went to the desert in the south of the desert in March.

The mud bacteria exist in the saline-alkali land and salt lake silt in the south of the desert.

The other two fungi are also members of this small family, namely, Psammonium sphaeroides and Psammonium sphaeroides.

The reason for this naming is mainly for convenience.

If we follow the Western naming method, it can also be called "Lin's Salmonella genus".

In fact, Jiang Miao’s identification panel database records millions of unknown viruses, bacteria, and fungi.

He specifically chose the mud pseudo-sand fungus because this fungus is not only difficult to cultivate, but also requires a specific environment and conditions. If the conditions are not met, they will be in a dormant state of suspended animation for a long time. This is why it is called pseudo-sand fungus. When the reproduction conditions are not sufficient, they are similar to ordinary small grains of sand.

Fungi with this characteristic are unlikely to become a disaster.

Another reason is that Pseudomonas aeruginosa is not easy to infect humans, animals and plants. They are relatively special saprophytes and can be easily killed by yeast.

Shuya's paper only talked about part of the situation of these three new fungi, such as how to discover, detect and analyze them.

As for the fact that the secondary metabolites of Sphaerotheca sludgeen have the properties of killing bacteria and inhibiting fungi, Shuya did not mention it in the paper.

Because this discovery will lead to a whole new family of antibiotics, which is related to the company's interests, this discovery can only be kept secret until the patent group of related patents is completed.

After reading the first few pages, Luo Yulin finally understood the significance of this discovery.

"Boss, are you planning to conduct research on this derivative ingredient?"

Jiang Miao nodded: "Yes, but because Shuya is pregnant, she can't continue to do fungal research. During this period, you will lead a team to conduct a comprehensive study of the pharmacology and toxicology of this derivative ingredient."

"no problem."

Seeing the excited Luo Yulin, Jiang Miao quickly reminded him, "Researcher Luo, you should be aware of the company's rules. This project is one of the core secrets. All of you who come into contact with this fungus and its derivatives must sign a confidentiality agreement."

"Huh? I understand." Luo Yulin reacted immediately.

He knew the importance of this ingredient and research, and if it were leaked, it would cause the company heavy losses.

Especially in the early feasibility study process, this time window is very important, because in order to apply for a patent for a drug substance, you must provide certain experimental data, and it is impossible for you to succeed in your application casually.

This time window is probably a few months.

Therefore, confidentiality agreements and closed management are indispensable measures.

As long as the feasibility study of the drug is completed after a few months, you can apply for a material patent. As for whether it can eventually become a new drug, it depends on continued research. It must also go through a series of cell experiments, animal experiments, and clinical trials, and finally verify the efficacy, safety, and related side effects before you can apply for a new drug to be marketed.

In short, without three to five years of research, there will be no new drugs.

Jiang Miao carefully selected this sludge bacteria, and the sagrin derived from it has performed well in all aspects of killing bacteria.

In particular, sagranin has a good inhibitory effect on some of the current super-resistant bacteria, and sagranin has a specific killing effect on carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE).

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are a group of bacteria that are widely present in various medical institutions. These bacteria are resistant to carbapenem antibiotics (which are considered the last line of defense for treating serious Enterobacteriaceae infections).

Therefore, infections caused by CRE are often associated with high mortality rates and are easily spread in hospital environments, posing a huge threat to patient safety.

This is also an important reason why China has vigorously rectified the problem of antibiotic abuse in recent years.

Compared with the problem of anesthetic abuse in Europe and the United States, the problem in the medical field in China and backward areas of Asia is the abuse of antibiotics, especially in small private clinics, where people use drugs without any scruples.

The consequence of misusing antibiotics is that bacteria and fungi with extremely strong drug resistance are easily born, which leads to increasingly poor effectiveness of antibiotic treatment, and eventually there may even be a situation where no drugs are available.

Currently, the major categories of antibiotics newly discovered by humans are becoming increasingly fewer.

In addition, penicillins are basically semi-obsolete, and the number of available antibiotics is decreasing.

At this time, the discovery of a new family of antibiotics is of great significance to the domestic medical system.

(End of this chapter)