Park Jin-hyuk reached out and touched Sajung-man’s shoulder, who still looked out of sorts after answering.
However, Sajung-man, though he replied reflexively, appeared to be lost in other thoughts soon after.
Right now, in Sajung-man’s eyes, Park Jin-hyuk no longer looked like an ordinary person.
From the conversation between Park Jin-hyuk and Kim Jun-woo, Sajung-man could tell that Park Jin-hyuk had foreseen everything.
Moreover, having witnessed the negotiations in San Francisco last time from up close, Sajung-man now saw Park Jin-hyuk as nothing less than a monster.
He even wondered if a monster was wearing human skin, and pondered how one could win his favor.
Useless thoughts were filling Sajung-man’s mind.
Park Jin-hyuk, noticing Sajung-man’s dazed expression, posed a question to him.
“How is the factory expansion I mentioned before progressing?”
At Park Jin-hyuk’s question, Sajung-man finally snapped back to reality.
He started giving his best prepared answer to Park Jin-hyuk’s inquiry.
“We began the assessment for the expansion as soon as you gave the order, and finished it two weeks ago. We have reviewed it with DS Construction. A few days ago, we received the maximum possible expansion capacity, the implementation date, and even the earliest possible completion date.”
“Well done. What I’m curious about now is the expected completion date if construction begins. What’s the estimate?”
“Three months. Within three months, we can increase annual production capacity by 50,000 liters. If we reduce the target volume, we could finish sooner, but expanding by less than 50,000 liters would make the expansion meaningless, so we set it at that.”
“That’s three months under normal circumstances, right?”
“Yes. That’s the baseline timeframe assuming no unexpected variables.”
“Good. President Kyung, how is Novo’s FDA manufacturing approval going? Is it proceeding without issues?”
“Phase 3 clinical trials have resumed and should be completed in about two months. Assuming there are no major issues, we’ll immediately apply for FDA manufacturing approval once the trials are done, and it looks like it will be approved right away.”
Park Jin-hyuk’s gaze remained fixed on the door that RohaShu had entered, as he questioned Sajung-man and Kyung Dae-yong, who stood to either side of him.
One might expect to be overwhelmed by the rapid-fire questions, but both the questioner and those answering did so without hesitation.
Kim Jun-woo felt he finally understood why Park Jin-hyuk trusted Kyung Dae-yong and Sajung-man and always brought them whenever he could.
‘I always thought they looked a bit slow, but as expected, they’re people the Executive Director chose for a reason.’
Park Jin-hyuk had always shown a surprising side whenever he got to work.
At times, that could make them look slow-witted, but it was only because Park Jin-hyuk always surpassed their expectations.
In truth, they were exceptional people.
And right now, they were showing it well.
“Didn’t the FDA say they wanted to verify manufacturing capability before granting approval?”
“That’s right. That’s why in three months, FDA officials will visit the factory to verify the production process.”
“Good. President Sa, I’ll inform President Hyun, so please complete the expansion within two months.”
“Two months may be a bit tight.”
“If everything in the world went as planned, it wouldn’t be interesting, would it? Besides, isn’t the sense of accomplishment greater when you pull off something difficult? Give it a try. I know it’s not easy to cut three months down to two, but I believe in you, President Sa.”
Park Jin-hyuk turned to Sajung-man and smiled.
Sajung-man couldn’t bring himself to refuse.
Besides, it wasn’t entirely impossible.
Park Jin-hyuk knew this, which was why he’d asked for two months instead of three.
He was well aware of how subordinates padded plans when reporting to superiors.
Park Jin-hyuk had spotted that instinct and spoken accordingly.
Park Jin-hyuk, who was operating a step above Sajung-man, smiled and patted his shoulder again.
This time, Sajung-man, now more clear-headed, replied to Park Jin-hyuk’s smile with an awkward grin and a wordless promise to get it done.
At that moment, the door RohaShu had entered opened, and one by one, people began to come out.
Sajung-man approached them and introduced Park Jin-hyuk.
It had been on his mind that he hadn’t yet introduced Park Jin-hyuk to them.
Kevin South shook hands with Park Jin-hyuk and glanced between him and Sajung-man as he spoke.
“Who should I speak to regarding the production plans?”
“You can talk with me.”
Park Jin-hyuk stepped forward.
He felt it was better to handle important matters himself rather than leave it to someone else.
Kevin South, the Asia-Pacific head of RohaShu, now looked Park Jin-hyuk up and down.
To a foreigner, Park Jin-hyuk looked especially young for an Asian, barely like someone who had just graduated high school.
As Kevin South eyed him skeptically, Sven Peterson, who had heard of Park Jin-hyuk while staying in Korea, whispered to Kevin about who Park Jin-hyuk really was.
Even while listening, Kevin South couldn’t shake off his uneasy expression.
Noticing this, Park Jin-hyuk instructed Sajung-man to lead them to a place where they could hold negotiations.
The DS people and the RohaShu people formed groups and followed behind Sajung-man.
As they walked, Park Jin-hyuk casually asked Kyung Dae-yong a question.
“Influenza is what we call the flu, right? Is this usually flu season?”
“Typically, influenza season starts in the fall. In fact, now is the time when it starts to die down. But if talk like this is surfacing now…”
Kyung Dae-yong leaned in and whispered quietly in Park Jin-hyuk’s ear as they walked.
“It looks like a major outbreak is about to happen.”
“How big are we talking?”
“Usually, an outbreak is declared when 9 out of 1,000 people are affected. But if it surpasses 30 per 1,000, that’s when it’s called a pandemic. In recent years, pandemics have occurred in cycles, and I think we’re entering that period now.”
“So every time that happens, do they recommend stockpiling medicine?”
“No. This is extremely rare.”
“Really? It’s rare?”
A smile spread even wider across Park Jin-hyuk’s face.
Just as Kyung Dae-yong saw this, they arrived at the conference room Sajung-man had prepared.
Before Kyung Dae-yong could ask why Park Jin-hyuk was smiling, both sides took their seats.
As soon as Kevin South from RohaShu sat down, he got straight to the point.
“At the recent San Francisco conference, I heard your company is pursuing a CMO business. You signed with Pfizer, and also contracted with Novo for new drug manufacturing—is that correct?”
“Yes. That’s right. Those are new contracts, and previously, we’ve been manufacturing products for domestic pharmaceutical companies.”
“Did Pfizer inspect your production process?”
“By production process, do you mean an on-site audit?”
“Yes. Was there a factory inspection, and did you pass?”
“We passed.”
“Good.”
Pfizer was RohaShu’s rival.
Mentioning the rival’s factory audit, Park Jin-hyuk was certain of one thing.
‘They’re desperate. These guys are in a real hurry.’
RohaShu was indirectly admitting they didn’t even have time for their own inspection.
They were willing to substitute a competitor’s passed inspection for their own.
With their cracks now fully exposed, Park Jin-hyuk thought it was time to walk right in.
“If we place a production order, can you start immediately?”
Looking at Kevin South, Park Jin-hyuk shook his head.
“You can’t just demand that unconditionally and expect me to answer. Tell us your terms, and then we can consider it.”
Kevin South’s face hardened.
In his view, a factory from a small, non-European country was talking back to global giant RohaShu.
But Park Jin-hyuk remained calm.
Having already laid all his cards on the table, he showed no sign of urgency.
“Before we talk terms, let’s clarify something first. We need a monthly supply for 80 million people. Can you handle that?”
Sajung-man’s eyes couldn’t get any wider.
Kyung Dae-yong was just as shocked.
They’d expected a large order, but not for 80 million people—per month, not per year.
Sajung-man’s mind raced, calculating if BioLogics could handle such a volume.
Park Jin-hyuk glanced at Sajung-man, then smiled at Kevin South.
“President Sa here is confirming. But honestly, didn’t you come here because you already knew we could do it? If it was impossible, you wouldn’t have come at all.”
Kevin South’s eyebrows twisted in frustration.
Sven Peterson stepped up to speak in his place.
“We understand this is called the second plant. That means there’s a first plant as well—is that correct?”
“Yes. It’s smaller, but the first plant is running at full capacity. And we’re almost ready to expand the second plant’s output. President Sa, what do you think? Can we do it?”
Sajung-man nodded in response to Park Jin-hyuk’s question.
“With our plant’s capacity alone, it’s not impossible. However, the products we’re currently manufacturing…”
Park Jin-hyuk grabbed Sajung-man’s hand, cutting him off before he could finish.
Turning to Kevin South, who was hearing the conversation through an interpreter, Park Jin-hyuk spoke.
“You heard him, right? He says we can do it. Is that the answer you wanted?”
Kevin South folded his arms and jerked his chin at Sven Peterson.
Sven reached out to a colleague, who handed him a document.
Without even looking at it, Sven placed it on the table and pushed it toward Park Jin-hyuk.
“Let’s sign. The moment you sign, start preparing for production immediately. Our desired start time is ‘right away.’”
Kyung Dae-yong and Sajung-man tried to check the contract RohaShu offered, but Park Jin-hyuk didn’t even glance at it.
After all, there was no point—their contract was meaningless to him.
“Why are you acting like this? We said we can do it, not that we will.”
“What does that mean? Didn’t you want to work with us and ask for this meeting?”
“You seem to be mistaken. From what I know, you first contacted us to ask if we could do it, and we refused. But then I heard about it and thought we shouldn’t just turn you down, so I suggested we at least listen. That’s why we’re meeting now. In other words, I’m here to hear you out, not to sign a contract.”
Park Jin-hyuk turned to Sven Peterson with a smile.
His expression seemed to ask if he was wrong.
Sven couldn’t say anything in reply.
Slowly, he turned to his superior, Kevin South.
In Kevin’s eyes, a fire burned.
Kevin South, who had been searching for other manufacturers, had rushed to Korea after hearing Sven’s report.
He’d seen the impressive DS BioLogics facility and decided to move India’s production to here.
But now, Park Jin-hyuk wanted to begin negotiations from scratch.
They didn’t have that kind of time.
“Just tell us what you want, and we’ll decide after hearing you out.”
“If I state all our conditions, can you really grant them? What if I ask for the Asian region license—would you give it?”
“Is that your demand?”
Kevin South hesitated at Park Jin-hyuk’s words.
Park Jin-hyuk didn’t want to let him think for long.
He immediately moved on, trying to pull Kevin out of his calculations.
“What if we take more than 80 million people’s worth? Will you give us something extra?”
“More than 80 million? Is that even possible?”
Just as Park Jin-hyuk intended, Kevin South stopped thinking and looked at him.
Receiving his gaze, Park Jin-hyuk leaned in, as if about to dive into Kevin’s eyes, then glanced between Kevin and the now dark-faced Sven Peterson.
“Tell me—exactly how much manufacturing capacity do you need to avoid your patent rights being suspended?”
Park Jin-hyuk’s words, a casual follow-up from Kyung Dae-yong’s explanation, had a dramatic effect.
Like fish freshly pulled from the market, Kevin South and Sven Peterson shifted restlessly in their seats.
“What are you talking about?”
“Come on, let’s lay all our cards on the table. I’ll solve your troubles. Then what will you offer us? Let’s match our terms. Isn’t it a waste of time to keep running around looking for production sites? Let’s settle it right here.”
Kevin South couldn’t hide his dismay.
Sven Peterson kept glancing away from Park Jin-hyuk, checking Kevin’s face, afraid that meeting eyes would reveal everything.
Park Jin-hyuk watched them and smiled.
“All right, then. Let me make the first proposal.”
At Park Jin-hyuk’s words, even Sven Peterson, who’d been averting his gaze, turned back to him.