Gyeong Dae-yong watched Park Jin-hyuk for a moment. Jin-hyuk’s expression was resolute. Once he set a goal, he never let his eyes wander. Gyeong already knew this, but the man before him was demonstrating a level of focus that was difficult for any human to maintain. Gyeong couldn’t see inside Jin-hyuk’s head, but it seemed the words ‘new drug development’ were the only ones written there.
Gyeong Dae-yong nodded at Park Jin-hyuk’s intensity and spoke.
“I understand. We will proceed with new drug development as our ultimate goal.”
“We can’t be complacent. Our contract manufacturing is on track, and soon we’ll be producing Truxima based on the data from Rohashu, putting our biosimilars on track as well. But we shouldn’t be satisfied with just that. We need to hold the real prizes — the real core of the business — in our hands.”
Gyeong Dae-yong understood why Park Jin-hyuk was so driven to develop a new drug. He knew that no matter how much they struck it rich with CMOs and biosimilars, it couldn’t compare to developing and releasing a single new drug to the market.
While a CMO might require hundreds of billions of won in work to yield tens of billions in profit, a new drug could realistically offer a 50% profit margin, or 30% at the very least.
Furthermore, if things went well and they developed a major market drug, seeing profits — not just revenue — in the trillions of won wouldn’t be out of the question. This was exactly what Park Jin-hyuk was anticipating.
“Let me show you the data I received from Novo.”
Park Jin-hyuk instructed Kim Jun-woo, who was waiting outside, to bring the materials Novo had provided. About 5 minutes later, Kim Jun-woo handed the documents to Park Jin-hyuk, who then passed them to Gyeong Dae-yong.
“You’re well aware of when Novo’s new drug, Tatulumide, was released. It’s only been 3 months. These documents include the projected revenue and operating profit for this year based on that.”
Gyeong Dae-yong scanned the papers. The profits Novo had made in just 3 months were astonishing.
While existing prostate cancer treatments were difficult for people to use due to high prices compared to their effectiveness, Novo’s Tatulumide boasted a significantly higher cure rate and was more affordable than competing products.
Gyeong had expected it to do well, of course, but the actual results far exceeded his expectations.
“The revenue generated over the last 3 months is 300 billion won, with a net profit of 100 billion won. And I’m talking about net profit, not just operating profit. This is revenue from the North American region alone. It doesn’t even include last month’s performance when sales began in the EU. On top of that, it will soon be released in Asia. The projected revenue for this year is 1 trillion won, with an expected net profit of over 200 billion won. You know as well as I do, President Gyeong, that these figures aren’t an exaggeration.”
Gyeong Dae-yong nodded as he looked down at the documents. As Jin-hyuk said, information regarding Novo’s sales wasn’t hard to find. This was because the production site for Novo’s drug was DS Biologics.
“I expected as much since I’ve been receiving reports that DS Biologics’ production volume for Novo has been steadily increasing, but… this is impressive. No — ‘impressive’ doesn’t even do it justice. If these are the results after just starting, I’m looking forward to next year when it truly takes off.”
“No matter how much passion we pour into CMOs and biosimilars, can we achieve results like this? Of course, we can reach 1 trillion won in revenue. But how much net profit will actually come from that? To grow DS Pharma, we must succeed in developing a new drug.”
“I agree with that.”
However, the method was the problem. Since this wasn’t the place to solve that issue immediately, neither Park Jin-hyuk nor Gyeong Dae-yong brought it up. They believed that aligning their goals was what mattered most right now.
“So, let’s move forward. If we keep looking for a way, won’t one reveal itself?”
“I will also work closely with the research institute to find a path.”
“I’ll trust you, since you were the director of a world-class research center,” Park Jin-hyuk said with a smile, showing his confidence in Gyeong Dae-yong.
Gyeong Dae-yong smiled back, but his heart was not at ease. A wall that towered far above mere willpower stood in their way.
Gyeong Dae-yong’s unease turned into anxiety when 1 month passed without any results. He wanted to go to Park Jin-hyuk with something — anything — to update him on their progress, but he had nothing to show. In his haste, Gyeong tried to use his network to recruit talent or connect with other companies.
However, even with new talent, developing a new drug would take time. Buying technology by acquiring another company was also difficult, as no suitable candidates stood out. Most domestic companies were mediocre, and it was hard to find any that showed real results.
When he looked at foreign companies, they were already being snatched up by major players or were in such close partnerships that they couldn’t be touched. He was faced with the difficulty of finding hidden gems, and even if he did, he wasn’t sure he could handle the scale of it.
Park Jin-hyuk knew the difficulties Gyeong Dae-yong was facing, so he waited patiently rather than rushing him. He knew that technological development wasn’t something that appeared just because one pestered for it.
Even while they were trying to build the foundation for the new drug, DS Biologics’ growth continued unabated. Following the expansion of Plant 2, the expansion of Plant 1 was also completed, and the construction of Plant 3 was entering its final stages.
With the expansion of existing annual production by 200,000 liters and the completion of Plant 3, total production for the year was expected to increase to 350,000 liters. Since Plant 4 was already more than half-finished, annual production was expected to exceed 500,000 liters by the end of the year or early next year.
An annual capacity of 500,000 liters would be among the highest in the world, making DS Biologics a global leader in the CMO industry.
In the case of biosimilars, Truxima was smoothly entering the final stages of clinical trials and was undergoing the certification process for commercialization. If the sale of Truxima followed within the year, DS Biologics’ profit model would be firmly established.
The market eagerly anticipated DS Biologics’ IPO, engaging in heated debates over which firm would be the lead underwriter and what the opening price would be once it went public.
“A market value of over 2 trillion won?”
Park Jin-hyuk looked down at an economic magazine analyzing the value of DS Biologics. Since the value included various expectations, it wasn’t an exact price, but it still served as important data to see how the market perceived the company.
“Executive Director, President Hyun is here.”
Kim Jun-woo opened the door and announced Hyun Yi-soo’s visit. Park Jin-hyuk set the newspaper on the table and stood up to greet him warmly.
“It’s been a while. You seem to have been quite busy lately.”
Park Jin-hyuk joked with Hyun Yi-soo, who hadn’t shown his face for 1 month. However, Hyun Yi-soo replied with a serious expression.
“I apologize. The situation hasn’t been great, so I’ve been busy handling matters. I’m sorry for the late visit.”
“It’s fine. Please, sit. What’s going on?” Jin-hyuk asked, sensing something was off from the man’s expression.
“The overseas markets that were doing so well have hit a snag. I’ve been out of the country for a while to look into them.”
“Hit a snag?”
It had been nearly 6 months since Park Jin-hyuk left DS Construction. Since a significant amount of time had passed, it was understandable that the situation would be different now.
However, he hadn’t expected a problem to arise so suddenly in just 6 months — or perhaps even less. Thinking that the situation must have changed rapidly in the meantime, Jin-hyuk asked again.
“Is something wrong?”
Seeing Park Jin-hyuk’s worried expression, Hyun Yi-soo quickly changed his demeanor and replied.
“It’s not a major issue. I apologize. It’s nothing much, but I think my careless words have troubled you, Executive Director.”
“Even if it’s not a major issue, it must be something significant if it’s kept you so busy. Tell me. What’s going on?”
Hyun Yi-soo looked as if he regretted bringing it up. Even if Park Jin-hyuk knew about it, it wasn’t something he could solve, and Hyun felt uncomfortable about troubling him.
However, at Jin-hyuk’s insistence, Hyun Yi-soo began to explain why he hadn’t been able to visit for the past month.
“The Paris Flu has caused some problems.”
“The Paris Flu? Hasn’t that died down by now?”
Just as expected when the flu spread during the winter, the contagiousness of the Paris Flu had rapidly diminished as the weather grew warmer. Furthermore, thanks to Pitaflu, which had become both a treatment and a preventive measure, it was turning into an infectious disease that was no longer feared.
“That’s true, but it swept through the market so fiercely that the economic recession is quite severe.”
“Severe?”
“Yes. The manufacturing sector has been hit fatally, and consequently, income and economic activity indices are in shambles. Because of that, all investors are withdrawing their investments.”
“I’ve heard about that too.”
The flu, which began in Europe, hit Asia hard — particularly China, the world’s manufacturing hub. When China came to a standstill, global manufacturers with plants there responded to the production halt by reducing sales or raising prices.
Moreover, while China handled the world’s manufacturing, it also shared a pillar of global consumption with the United States. As Chinese consumption plummeted, the global economy began to sink into a temporary swamp of recession.
“For companies like ours that attract investment to carry out projects, the current situation is difficult. That’s why I’ve been busy visiting investment firms and reviewing the progress of our overseas businesses.”
“Is it that difficult?”
Hyun Yi-soo quickly waved his hands at Park Jin-hyuk’s worried look.
“No. We cleaned up many of the insolvent businesses while you were there, so it’s not terribly hard. Most of the remaining or newly started projects were on the scale of national projects. But…”
“It’s okay. Go on. What’s the difficulty?”
After hesitating for a moment, Hyun Yi-soo spoke with a sheepish smile.
“Actually, as you know, for overseas projects, we lack the capability and the sales network to venture out alone.”
Park Jin-hyuk nodded. He hadn’t been at DS Construction for very long, but he had seen enough to know that was true. He found it strange that President Hyun was bringing this up again.
Hyun Yi-soo cleared the air and finally said what he had come to say.
“We were working on an overseas project in cooperation with Dongjung Industry.”
This wasn’t news to Park Jin-hyuk, as it had been mentioned when the presidents of each subsidiary gathered to explain their business plans for the year. However, hearing it now, he realized there was a problem with the project involving Dongjung Industry.
“Is there a problem with the project you’re doing with Dongjung Industry?”
“Well, for other things, we managed to resolve the difficulties using the network Dongjung Industry had built over the years. But the construction of the new port in Thailand has become an issue.”
“A new port? Are you talking about Laem Chabang?”
Park Jin-hyuk vaguely recalled seeing a business plan where Thailand intended to invest 10 trillion won over 10 years to create a new port, logistics centers, and related infrastructure.
However, the scale wasn’t something DS Construction would typically participate in alone, so he had assumed large construction firms would be the ones involved and hadn’t paid it much attention. But hearing about the Laem Chabang new port project from Hyun Yi-soo gave him a bad feeling.
“That’s not a project we can handle, is it?”
“No. It would be difficult to do alone. In fact, the scale of the project is too large for almost anyone to do alone. That’s why Dongjung Industry formed a consortium, and we joined as one of the project operators.”
Park Jin-hyuk nodded. It made sense if they were one of the operators in a consortium.
“Then what’s the problem? Has the port project itself been canceled due to the recession?”
“No. In a country like Thailand where logistics are vital, a new port project is a national-level endeavor, so it’s unlikely to be canceled.”
“Then what?”
“The problem is that the investment firms that agreed to participate as financial investors are requesting to withdraw or downsize due to a lack of liquidity caused by the recession… That’s what’s become an issue.”
“So the project is set to continue, but since the investors are backing out, you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
“Yes. I’ve been traveling everywhere with Dongjung Industry to persuade the investors, but we haven’t had much success.”
Park Jin-hyuk stared at Hyun Yi-soo. Perhaps remembering how he had run around until his feet were sore to persuade investors, Hyun Yi-soo frowned and stared into space for a moment. Park Jin-hyuk could see the difficulty of the project in his expression.
“If persuading the investors is that difficult, how about withdrawing from the project?”
“For us, it wouldn’t really matter. But Dongjung Industry won’t be able to do that.”
“Dongjung Industry can’t?”
“Yes. If the project isn’t carried out properly, Dongjung Industry is likely to see a massive operating loss this time.”
“Hmm.”
Park Jin-hyuk groaned silently. Given Dongjung Industry’s already precarious state, he could guess that the operating loss would be quite substantial.
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