Park Jin-hyuk had no knowledge whatsoever about Pitaflu.
First, Park Jin-hyuk thought he needed to find out what exactly the Pitaflu they proposed was, so he narrowed his eyes and looked at Kyung Dae-yong as he asked.
“What exactly is this Pitaflu they’re offering? If they proposed it as an exchange condition, it must be a product on par with Truxima, which we tried to make as a biosimilar, right?”
“Yes. In terms of versatility, Pitaflu is perhaps even more widely used than Truxima. However, because of that versatility, the drug price isn’t that high, so in terms of sales, it’s similar to Truxima. About 1 billion Swiss francs. In our currency, that’s 1.2 trillion won in revenue. It’s a type of antiviral, developed as a treatment for Type A influenza. But after it was reported recently to be effective in treating avian influenza, the CDC in the US recommended that every country stockpile it, so countries started placing large orders with Rohashu.”
“So they felt the production burden and asked us too? Because they suddenly have to stockpile?”
“I assume that’s the reason. Otherwise, there’d be no reason for them to request production from us.”
“What do you mean there’s no reason to request production from us?”
“I heard they’re already producing it in India. That’s where Rohashu’s Asia-Pacific production base is.”
Park Jin-hyuk nodded.
The fact that they made a request despite already having a production base meant things were urgent for them.
If that’s the case, their proposal probably wasn’t bad, but Park Jin-hyuk was curious why Kyung Dae-yong refused it.
“It sounds like a pretty good offer. Why did you turn it down?”
“First, giving up on Truxima was too much of a loss. The development is complete, and it’s about to enter clinical trials. Since it’s a biosimilar, both efficacy and side effects are already verified. Plus, clinical progress should be smooth and fast. So as soon as next year or, at the latest, the year after, we’ll be able to export, and it’ll be a big profit maker for DS Pharma. Giving that up is a real waste. And… even if it’s the Asia production rights, the volume is no joke.”
“If the volume is large, isn’t that good? How much are we talking about?”
“They said forty million courses. And that’s forty million per month.”
Park Jin-hyuk frowned at Kyung Dae-yong.
Hearing the number, it didn’t really register how big that was to Park Jin-hyuk.
Kyung Dae-yong looked at him and explained again.
“It’s enough that Pitaflu alone would take up half the monthly output of the new second plant.”
Only after that explanation did Park Jin-hyuk realize just how much forty million really was.
After confirming that Park Jin-hyuk understood, Kyung Dae-yong gave a bitter smile and said,
“That’s why we plan to refuse Rohashu’s proposal because of Pitaflu.”
Park Jin-hyuk nodded as if agreeing.
He remembered having gotten orders like this in the past.
It was a job they picked up in a rush, only to have it become a burden later.
Even though there were better offers, they had to let them go because they were busy with less profitable work.
The result: instead of being praised for landing the contract, he was blamed for missing better opportunities—a memory from his Yu Jeong-geol days that flashed through Park Jin-hyuk’s mind.
But Park Jin-hyuk thought things were a bit different now, and smiled at Kyung Dae-yong as he spoke.
“For now, let’s set up a meeting. I’d like to see them in person.”
“In person?”
“Yes. President Sa and President Kyung, you should join too. Let’s talk together. Even if all we get is breaking even, that’s not a bad outcome for now. And if there’s a crack to squeeze through, let’s squeeze through it. Since they mentioned the Asia production rights, it feels like a crack has opened up.”
Having witnessed the Novovax negotiation firsthand, Kyung Dae-yong was greatly encouraged by Park Jin-hyuk’s talk of a crack.
If Park Jin-hyuk saw something he couldn’t, then maybe the answer lay in that crack.
“Then I’ll set up a meeting right away. I heard the Asia rep is coming from headquarters in a week anyway. I’ll mention his visit.”
“Good. Go ahead.”
Park Jin-hyuk smiled, thinking things might go more smoothly than expected.
*****
When Rohashu’s Asia representative landed at Incheon Airport, Park Jin-hyuk was already on his way to meet him at Biologics.
“Is President Sa all set?”
“Yes. They’ve made all the preparations and are just waiting for the delegation.”
“Hahaha. Not having any other business is helpful at times like this.”
The Rohashu rep expressed that instead of meeting at DS Pharma headquarters, he wanted to inspect the production facility and talk there.
On top of that, as soon as he landed in Korea, he wanted to jump straight into negotiations.
Because of that, Park Jin-hyuk was heading to the location of the Biologics plant.
When he arrived, he burst out laughing at the “Thank you for visiting” banner and the neatly arranged flowers lining either side.
‘Big company or small, these welcome ceremonies are always the same.’
When Park Jin-hyuk entered the factory, Kyung Dae-yong, President Sa, and the Biologics staff were already waiting to greet him.
“You’re here?”
“Are you ready?”
“Yes. They’ll be satisfied.”
Just as President Sa said, the factory was in impeccable condition.
Park Jin-hyuk also checked the preparations with a satisfied smile and waited for the Rohashu delegation.
After about an hour, three vehicles entered the Biologics plant.
Kevin South, Rohashu’s head of Asia-Pacific, and Sven Petersen, president of Rohashu Korea, along with other Rohashu staff, filed into Biologics.
Looking at the figures above Kevin South and Sven Petersen’s heads—numbers close to a billion—Park Jin-hyuk realized they were extraordinary.
And if people of that caliber were urgently looking for a manufacturer, it meant what they were offering wasn’t bad at all.
While Park Jin-hyuk was thinking, President Sa stepped up to greet them.
They returned his greeting, but immediately got to the point.
“Let’s start with a factory tour.”
Their behavior wasn’t typical, so Park Jin-hyuk nodded at President Sa and watched their expressions from behind.
‘We knew they were in a rush, but this is more urgent than I thought. Why are they so antsy, like a dog needing to pee?’
Even coming for a factory tour before unpacking their bags wasn’t normal.
The standard for negotiations was to take things slowly over several days, working step by step.
That way, you didn’t show your hand right away.
But inspecting the plant and talking among themselves was a clear sign that things were urgent.
‘The crack is bigger than I thought.’
He didn’t know the reason yet, but seeing them check the production capacity without even talking to the DS side showed Park Jin-hyuk there was an opening to exploit.
After about an hour, the Rohashu team requested a space to talk among themselves.
President Sa glanced at Park Jin-hyuk, who smiled wryly and nodded for him to accept Rohashu’s request.
Watching Rohashu’s group being led to a room, Kyung Dae-yong couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked Park Jin-hyuk,
“What do you think is going on?”
Kyung Dae-yong wasn’t used to this kind of situation, so he asked Park Jin-hyuk, who just gave a mysterious smile.
Just then, Kim Jun-woo, who had stepped out, came back and quietly spoke to Park Jin-hyuk.
“It’s confirmed.”
“Yeah? What did they say?”
Kyung Dae-yong and President Sa perked up their ears to listen.
Kim Jun-woo glanced at the two.
Park Jin-hyuk smiled and waved his hand.
“It’s fine. We’ll all have to discuss it soon anyway. Just tell me.”
With Park Jin-hyuk reassuring him, Kim Jun-woo continued, arms folded.
Seeing him this cautious, Park Jin-hyuk guessed whatever came next would be a powerful bargaining chip for the negotiation.
Kim Jun-woo nodded, wetted his lips, and spoke slowly.
“The Indian factory that was handling Asia production has been decided for shutdown.”
“Shutdown? They closed it?”
“Yes. Impurities were detected in the raw materials. What’s worse, the Indian factory knew about it but pushed ahead to meet production quotas. It looks like production there is impossible from now on.”
“That’s a disaster. They pushed ahead even knowing there were impurities in the raw materials? Are they insane? Why would they do that? For what reason would they force production knowing the raw materials were tainted? Meeting quotas must’ve been that urgent… what’s going on?”
He didn’t expect it to be simple, but Kim Jun-woo’s words far exceeded Park Jin-hyuk’s expectations.
Not even in the cottage-industry days of the 1970s did people pull stunts like this.
No matter how urgent the quotas, you never produced if the raw materials were contaminated.
Especially since we’re talking about medicine.
This was unthinkable.
As he moved away from the room Rohashu entered, Park Jin-hyuk gestured for Kim Jun-woo to go on.
Seeing this, Kim Jun-woo bowed his head and spoke in a low voice.
Kyung Dae-yong and President Sa leaned in close to hear.
“There are reports of an influenza outbreak in Europe right now. So the US CDC is recommending every country maintain stockpiles. To prepare for possible emergencies, they inspected the production plants in each region… and that’s where it got caught.”
“What? They didn’t even find it themselves, the CDC found it?”
Park Jin-hyuk laughed as Kyung Dae-yong suddenly shouted in disbelief.
“Calm down. It’s not us who got caught, it’s them.”
“Sorry, I got a little worked up. It’s just an unbelievable situation. If this happens, even their patent rights could be suspended.”
“Patent suspension? That’s possible?”
Park Jin-hyuk had always thought of patents as untouchable.
Especially in countries like the US, where individual rights are top priority, patent rights are considered sacred.
But the possibility of the US suspending a patent was certainly interesting.
Kyung Dae-yong explained before Kim Jun-woo could.
“In special circumstances, patent rights can be suspended. Especially when a national disaster is anticipated, patents can be suspended and generics produced and supplied. But for them to realize the ingredients were contaminated and still go ahead… that’s unheard of. The CDC recommended stockpiling, and they still did something this crazy.”
“President Kyung is right. The US CDC is considering allowing generics to be produced now.”
“Really? So that’s why they were so jittery, like puppies needing the bathroom?”
A wide smile spread across Park Jin-hyuk’s face.
He glanced at the room where Rohashu had gone in.
He didn’t know what they were discussing in there, but now he clearly understood why they seemed so desperate.
“Is this kind of thing common?”
Park Jin-hyuk kept his gaze fixed on Rohashu’s room and asked Kyung Dae-yong.
Kyung Dae-yong shook his head.
“Not at all. Especially the part about pushing production despite contaminated ingredients—I’ve never heard of that. But patent suspension and generic production get considered from time to time.”
“Really? You’ve seen it considered often?”
“Yes. During that big flu outbreak years ago, it was even considered here. On the premise that public welfare takes precedence over individual rights. Luckily or unluckily, supply always kept up just as we were about to run out, so producing generics never happened. After that, local companies tried to avoid going through that again by maintaining steady supply.”
“What about other countries?”
“Same thing. The moment the issue comes up, patent holders do everything they can to supply the drug. If they don’t, generics get produced and hit the market—and that’s as good as losing the patent entirely.”
“Really? So whatever happens, they have to protect the patent at all costs.”
“Yes. So when rumors of review start going around…”
Kyung Dae-yong trailed off, glancing at the room where Rohashu’s staff were talking.
Having discussed it with Park Jin-hyuk, he now realized why Rohashu was acting this way.
“This is going to get interesting.”
Park Jin-hyuk couldn’t help but smile as he waited for the Rohashu staff to come out.
They hadn’t even sat at the negotiation table yet, but their hand was already plain to see, which made Park Jin-hyuk delighted.
“Secretary Kim. Well done. The information team you built has already pulled off something big.”
“It was all thanks to your foresight, Director.”
“Whatever the case, now that we’ve got the intel, we have to cook up something good with it. President Sa.”
President Sa, who had just been watching with wide eyes as everything unfolded, jumped in surprise at Park Jin-hyuk’s call.
“Yes, Director.”