BXBX NOVEL Chapter 71: The Conqueror of AIDS (5)
Chapter 71: The Conqueror of AIDS (5)
“First of all, our organization does not seek profit,” he said. “The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the UN for healthcare. It is our job to guide and coordinate international health affairs to ultimately improve health universally. Your project to eradicate HIV… Of course we will do it. But what I’m curious about is…”
Tedros bit his lip.
“Is that really possible? You said you would eradicate HIV, but the idea of making a vaccine is shocking, but to lower the production cost to 0.1 percent of the current treatment?”
“Both ideas are possible. We will develop the vaccine using the facilities at A-Gen and start clinical trials this year. Karamchand can produce the treatment in mass quantities.”
“About that treatment. You said it was called Karampia? The one we are selling.” Sachet interrupted and asked.
“Yes,” Young-Joon replied.
“You said that you will synthesize the drug within yeast cells?”
“To be exact, we are only extracting and using the materials involved in the polymerization system in the yeast cell.”
Sachet was lost in thought. Karampia was a replica drug of Fuzeon, Roche’s AIDS treatment. It interfered with the mechanism of the cell membrane and the structure on the surface of the virus fusing together as HIV infected the white blood cell. It was in the spotlight in many countries as it had minimal side effects, it worked well, and there was minimal drug resistance as well.
But the production process was extremely picky. This drug was a very large, complex chemical that had a long centipede-like molecular structure. Each part was one chemical molecule, and they had to be synthesized one by one through chemical reactions, like building Lego. After thirty-six steps, it was complete. It had thirteen steps that took about a month, and countless scientists were worked to the bone for this.
‘And he’s going to reduce it to two steps that only take thirty-six hours?’
Was this how European people at the transition point to modern times felt when they heard about steam engines for the first time?
If it was anyone else, Sachet would have snickered and told them to stop talking nonsense, but the person who said it was a monster who had achieved unrealistic results one after another, such as induced pluripotent stem cells, a glaucoma cure, and a clinical trial for an Alzheimer’s treatment. He was the biggest rising star in the scientific community. It didn’t seem like he was bluffing; he probably did have that technology. But Sachet had one concern.
“To be honest, the problem arises from the moment we lower the production cost to 0.1 percent of what it was before. I don’t have the slightest clue as to how I should alter the price because the price break is so severe.”
“Lower it so that all AIDS patients can survive,” Young-Joon said. “Once Karamchand’s factories begin working with our new yeast cell synthesis technology, I don’t want anyone dying from AIDS anywhere in the world.”
“It might be possible if the production cost is 0.1 percent. But… I don’t know. I’ve never seen such a big technological innovation. I also can’t imagine producing big enough quantities to supply the entire world,” Sachet said.
“It probably won’t be easy, given how huge the job is. That’s why the Director-General of the WHO is here right now.”
Tedros’ eyes widened.
“Me?”
“Isn’t it the WHO’s role to coordinate the global health industry?” Young-Joon asked. “If we have this kind of technology and Karamchand’s facility, the WHO must take responsibility to help Karamchand and supply Karampia to every AIDS patient in the world.”
Tedros slowly nodded with a surprised look on his face. He said, “Although I need to do some calculations, it should be possible with the production cost falling to 0.1 percent. If it’s not possible with Karamchand’s facilities alone, we can partner with other pharmaceutical companies.”
“Yes. and we have to distribute the mass-produced drugs as well. Like Africa, there are a lot of poor developing countries that are at war or have divided governments due to civil wars,” Young-Joon said. “As the government isn’t properly carrying out its duties, it will be that much harder to distribute the drugs. The WHO must make sure to solve that problem.”
“I see. I will do whatever I can,” Tedros said with a stern look.
“But Doctor Ryu, if this really succeeds and we destroy AIDS, how long will that take?” Sachet asked.
“I don’t know. It depends on how many countries our Director-General can get support from and how active he can get them to be,” Young-Joon replied. “If it’s really fast, three years. If we’re slow, it’ll take decades.”
“Let’s just say that it takes three years. If HIV is eradicated, wouldn’t one of our pipelines disappear?” Sachet said. “And to be honest, I’m not confident that we will be able to secure our livelihood in three years. Unlike A-Bio, we don’t have the monstrous pace of research that can print out new drug candidates every few months.”
“That’s true. You could be put in a difficult position.”
“I’m sorry for being so crude, but if the technology you told us about is really true, this is a very dangerous variable for us, not good news.”
“I understand, and that’s why it’s a relief, right? You found out right now that a technology that can destroy your company,” Young-Joon said. “Some places like Roche might be unsuspecting and take a huge hit to their sales, but Karamchand has time to prepare.”
To be honest, Sachet knew as well; he didn’t have a choice in this matter. It seemed like Young-Joon was asking for his cooperation, but Young-Joon was giving Karamchand, who was destined to become unemployed from more advanced technologies, a last chance.
Young-Joon had nothing to lose. He could just push back their three-year plan to eradicate HIV for fifteen years and do it himself at A-Gen. It will take a long time for A-Gen to do it as they had never touched the AIDS drug industry, but that also meant that it wouldn’t affect their company sales even if AIDS was destroyed. The reason why Young-Joon was presenting Karamchand with this offer was because it was the shortest way to eradicate AIDS and a way to save time.
If Karamchand lost Young-Joon, it was obvious that the one who would be unsuspecting and take a huge hit to their sales would be Karamchand, not Roche. But unlike Roche, Karamchand wouldn’t be able to recover from that kind of damage.
“But you don’t have to be that worried,” Young-Joon said with a smile.
“We don’t have to worry?”
“Right now, medicine is moving onto the next chapter. Some diseases will be eradicated in this process. But at the same time, new interests will emerge,” Young-Joon said. “Unless humans can live forever, there will always be a demand for something in medicine. We just have to match that, don’t we?”
“The point is that I don’t think we will be able to do that in three years.”
“You will be able to create something with A-Bio.”
“...”
“And there is something I want to make sure with both of you.”
“What is it?” Tedros asked.
“What we are trying to do right now is not some old-school healthcare business where we are making a new drug and treating patients to get rich and grow the company,” Young-Joon said. “Edward Jenner created inoculation, the first ever vaccine, and contributed greatly to the eradication of smallpox. But he distributed that vaccine free of charge. You both should know since you’re both doctors.”
“...”
“The Royal Society of Medicine told Jenner to publish a patent and get royalties, but he refused. He pushed for free distribution, hoping that it could save at least one more person that way. He fell out of favor with the society and was criticized, but everyone eventually came to respect him,” Young-Joon said. “That is what we are doing. Thanks to Jenner, we don’t get smallpox even if we don’t get the smallpox vaccine because it has been eradicated, right?”
Tedros, who was stroking his chin, was lost in thought. The World Health Organization declared smallpox eradicated in 1977. He was a university student when that monumental event happened.
“It’s time for modern medicine to declare HIV eradicated. And we have all the puzzle pieces of the technology needed for that to happen.”
“We will support you fully,” Tedros said. He was strongly determined.
“Sigh.” Sachet let out a deep breath. “Alright, fine, Doctor Ryu. To be honest, I also wanted to wipe out AIDS as a scientist, aside from the profit of the company,” he said. “I will have to report this item to the board of directors and get approval, but the technological side of the company usually follows what I want to do. I want to join you.”
* * *
The chimpanzee experiment was over. Now, it had been experimentally proven that AIDS could be cured by transplanting bone marrow with CCR5 that had been manipulated by Cas9. Samuel, the editor of Science, had already received the manuscript from Young-Joon, and he had also heard about the HIV eradication project meeting in advance.
It had been about a month since the meeting at the Conrad. On a warm and nice Tuesday morning, the World Health Organization started a major announcement.
“In cooperation with A-Bio and Karamchand Pharmatics in India, we are planning a project to eliminate the human immunodeficiency virus from the face of this planet,” Tedros said in front of the reporters. “This project will start next month, and many governments have already given us their promises of cooperation. This project will have three broad strategies. The first will be to stop the progression of the disease in infected patients. For this, Karamchand Pharmatics and seven pharmaceutical companies will be producing and distributing fifty billion doses of Karampia, an AIDS treatment. The World Health Organization is supporting this cause, and…”
The speech that would be left in history went on. The WHO had declared that they would forever eradicate HIV from the face of this planet and was strongly determined to do so.
Tedros’ announcement was broadcasted live to the entire world. Doctors and scientists from all over the world were watching that historical declaration with interest. Geo Hutter was one of them as well.
Gero Hutter was a German hematologist and a surgeon. He was the primary doctor of the Berlin Patient, Timothy Ray Brown, who was the first lucky man to be cured of AIDS. He was the first person to report the cure of AIDS after confirming that HIV was no longer seen in Brown’s body following the transplant with modified CCR5.
At the time, he was attacked by a lot of people in the field as he had only observed the absence of the virus for two years. He was criticized by people saying how he could determine that the patient’s AIDS had been cured by just two years.
But there was a different reason why Gero Hutter reported something like that. Because he had never seen this phenomenon before, he wanted to get the advice of doctors around the world. As he published his paper, he asked what would be the best thing to do for Timothy Ray Brown, the patient, and he faithfully applied the advice of many other famous doctors. He was a very ethical doctor who was worthy of respect.
“The eradication of AIDS… Haha, was the world I am living in right now in a time where it was capable of doing something like this? I won’t be able to boast about curing AIDS just once anymore,” Hutter exclaimed in admiration as he listened to the Director-General’s announcement.
Click.
His office door opened.
“Professor Hutter.”
Horkheimer, his senior professor at the hospital, came to see him.
“Did you see this?”
Horkheimer handed him today’s Science magazine.
“What is this?” Hutter asked.
“The WHO Director-General’s announcement isn’t what’s important right now. There’s no technological explanation in that; all he is talking about is how the project is running and what country’s governments are cooperating. Anyway, look at this.”
Gero Hutter took the magazine. A picture of Young-Joon was on the cover. Now, it wasn’t even surprising that this man was on the cover.
“A-Bio is in the HIV eradication project. It seems like Doctor Ryu did something there, huh?”
“It’s not just something,” Horkheimer said.
[AIDS can be cured by transplanting hematopoietic cells made from Cas9-manipulated stem cells into bone marrow.]
[Development of the mosaic vaccine that combines three key types of surface antigens of HIV.]
[Method of mass-producing Enfuvirtide using the polymerization system of yeast cells.]
Enfuvirtide was the chemical name for Karampia. The three papers on the first page all had Young-Joon’s name as the first and corresponding author. The name of the edition was [The HIV Eradication Project].
“He did all of it,” Horkheimer said. “The WHO announcement came first and the paper was a little late, but it will rise to the surface now. If this project succeeds, he will get the Nobel Prize, don’t you think?”
“...”
“Ignore the other things and look at the first paper. It’s the last puzzle piece of HIV eradication that the Director-General is talking about.”
“Bone marrow with manipulated CCR5…?”
“This person commercialized the technology you used to treat the Berlin Patient.”
“No way…”
Gero Hutter’s hands trembled.
‘This is possible?’
In the case of Timothy Ray Brown, he was extremely lucky. Normally, it was difficult to find a bone marrow donor fit for the transplant. But the probability that the person they found had a mutation in CCR5 and didn’t work? It was close to zero percent; it was a miracle. But a genius scientist on the other side of the planet pulled that probability up to one hundred percent.
‘He created a miracle in the lab.’
“As the first doctor to have experience in curing AIDS, I think there’s something you could do there,” Horkheimer said. “It says that they are recruiting doctors that can do bone marrow transplants. Why don’t you apply?”