Chapter 310 Initiative
The Norwegian shipping magnate went bankrupt because his words even offended Da Piaoliang. It can be said that he was kicked when he was down and no one could save him!
What follows, of course, is a feast of dividing up the high-quality assets after bankruptcy, with capital from all sides showing off their skills.
After all, to earn such a reputation, he must have a lot of good stuff.
However, no one was competing with Umbrella for the various platforms and ships that had completed modification in the shipyard and were being seized.
Because only Umbrella can use this thing!
Buy it and then resell it to the other party?
If the other party doesn’t want it anymore, won’t it just rot in their hands?
So Umbrella got the hulls it originally wanted at the auction's reserve price.
However, since these modified platforms are concentrated in Europe, it will take some time to tow them back to East Asia and merge with other platforms.
The maneuverability of many platforms depends on tugboats, which are not only slow but also inconvenient for many to travel through the canal, so they need to take a detour around the Cape of Good Hope.
However, the new platform has not yet been launched. After all, even if one works overtime for extra money, it still takes time to build such a big thing.
It took Daewoo Shipbuilding three years to build the million-ton Pioneering Spirit.
However, because Umbrella is willing to spend money, everything operates 24 hours a day, so even if you calculate it, three million-ton platforms are enough to be produced in about a year.
After all, Umbrella placed orders with many factories, and almost all shipyards started construction simultaneously.
At the same time, two new virus-specific immunoglobulins from Purdue Pharma were also approved!
The first one is the specific immunoglobulin for hepatitis C!
There are nearly 200 million hepatitis C patients worldwide, and there is a specific drug for the hepatitis C virus, Havanni produced by Gilead.
A course of treatment lasts twelve weeks, and the total cost is nearly US$100,000!
Therefore, Havanni's annual sales rank second among all medicines in the world, reaching as high as 9 billion US dollars!
That is to say, if only 100,000 of the 200 million patients use this drug every year, this terrifying sales volume can be achieved.
At the beginning, someone compared it with Umbrella's hepatitis B specific medicine, which made many people understand Umbrella's conscience.
Coincidentally, Gilead is also one of the Sackler family's industries. It can be said that just one move instantly broke the backbone of this company!
In an instant, the hepatitis C drug that originally brought in nearly 10 billion US dollars every year was shattered!
Since this new drug from Umbrella is placed under Purdue Pharmaceuticals, its original purpose is to make money and compete, so the price is almost comparable to the original "Hepatitis C" specific drug. It can be said that it is replacing the opponent's market with a more targeted effect.
After all, traditional antiviral drugs themselves have significant side effects on the body, and the treatment period is too long, and they are far less effective than the immunoglobulin that has been proven to be effective in treating hepatitis B.
After the price was revealed, the country immediately realized how "merciful" the price of Umbrella's hepatitis B medicine was before!
Raising the price tenfold or even a hundredfold can easily increase their sales!
Moreover, by reducing the output, more sources of transmission can be "left", making it a long-term process!
For example, now almost all hepatitis B patients have been cured in one go, which has led to the almost discontinuation of production of hepatitis B-specific immunoglobulin.
Although they did make some money due to the number of patients, the revenue is far less long-term than the model of Gilead's hepatitis C specific drug!
Now that the real prices of the drugs have been revealed, the differences between similar products still leave people deeply shocked.
"No wonder the country has such strong support for Umbrella. This is a true friend."
"I give up. I remember there were people who criticized Umbrella in the past. How did they criticize it? On what basis did they criticize it?"
“Yes, this is a conscientious enterprise.”
"Haha, conscience? They can sell hepatitis B drugs for a few hundred dollars, which means the cost is lower and there is profit! Now hepatitis C drugs are tens of dollars, their conscience has been eaten by dogs."
"What a fool! There are already similar special-effect drugs on the market with such high prices. Why can't they be sold at the same price when their efficacy is better? Why haven't you criticized Gilead?"
"How can they be the same? Gilead is a listed company in a civilized country. They have invested so much in research and development, so of course they need a high price to make up for the initial research and development costs. Otherwise, who would research new drugs?"
"And then? Umbrella's doesn't count ?"
"Umbrella is obviously using old technology and past experience, so of course they don't need any extra R&D costs. If they could sell it for a few hundred bucks before, they can certainly sell it for a few hundred bucks now!"
"It's so funny, you're still using old techniques. Could you please differentiate between Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C? Hepatitis B is a DNA virus that can be easily protected by vaccines, while Hepatitis C is an RNA virus that is prone to mutation."
"That's right. They think their own medicines that cost tens of dollars are too expensive, but they say imported medicines that cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars are what people deserve. It's double standards."
After all, more people have been helped by Umbrella, especially after comparing the drug prices this time, we can understand how rare it was before.
So overall there are more positive reviews, after all, the price of hepatitis B drugs is listed here!
"Wow, Umbrella has really made a lot of concessions for our market."
"Whatever their purpose and intention, it is undeniable that 'hepatitis B-specific immunoglobulin' has solved the pain of many patients before."
"In fact, this is the theoretical price of a new drug, not to mention that the effect is so good."
"Yes, the effect of the hepatitis B specific drug has been demonstrated. It has a good reputation and can cure the disease quickly. Who would use a virus-suppressing drug for such a long time? It has side effects on the body."
"Yeah, I'm kind of looking forward to what Umbrella's second medicine will be."
"Yes, and it's so mysterious."
"Haha, it can't be a special medicine for the zombie virus."
"Umbrella's technology is really possible."
"Shit! It's Ebola!"
"!!"
"shock!"
"The one who got the fatal virus?"
"I heard that even the zombies were killed by Ebola."
“Awesome!”
"Is it possible that if Umbrella is given time, the immunoglobulin of the zombie virus can also be developed?"
“…”
If the Hepatitis C virus announced by Umbrella was purely for money-making, then the immunoglobulin against Ebola has really attracted considerable attention!
Unlike the stable situation at home, the chaos in Great Piao is getting worse and worse.
There are often rumors of zombies entering the city, causing riots.
Orders for various shelters have increased significantly.
Arms dealers are also having a party.
I really don't understand their current situation.
There are some really beautiful videos showing people biting each other or gnawing on each other’s faces.
But the final results showed that it was caused by taking too much drugs.
Anyway, there are really a lot of cool moves.
But even though the situation is so chaotic, through some news and videos on TT, as well as some observations under simultaneous translation, it seems that this does not have much impact on Da Piaoliang.
The slight inflation caused was easily calmed down by raising interest rates, but the government still keeps pointing fingers at others on a daily basis, as if the operation has not been affected at all!
This situation has actually caused many people to express their feelings and admiration.
“The upper and lower classes can already be considered reproductively isolated.”
"Yeah, I have a classmate who studied abroad there, and he said that as long as you don't go to places you shouldn't go, you won't feel anything at all!"
"I have friends who traveled the same way. They felt that studying abroad and traveling there were completely isolated from normal life."
“It’s really a dream.”
"It's a beautiful dream. There are still many people who want to go there..."
"There's nothing wrong with pursuing a better life, as long as you don't turn around and attack us."
"If they don't attack us, how can they prove that their decision is correct? How can they prove their superiority? You're overthinking it."
"In fact, truly capable and high-quality people rarely attack us. They will actively raise funds when difficulties and disasters occur. But those who have worked so hard through various channels to become the lowest class, what else can they do if they don't show their superiority in front of us? How can they compare with dishwashers?"
"But you see, Umbrella has published some papers on the K virus."
"Fuck, we still have to rely on Umbrella to control the zombies..."
“…”
Umbrella published some research papers on the K virus, giving some of the virus' characteristics in great detail.
However, after this paper was published, it caused a certain degree of panic.
"...I'm sorry to tell you that because the K virus acts on the central nervous system and hijacks the body, even specific immunoglobulins have almost no effect on patients who have already developed the K virus. Attacking the virus will directly lead to the death of the infected body..."
Umbrella's biotechnology is here, and it has its own armed forces, so when it applied to find a way to fight the virus in Africa, it was authorized by the United Nations.
Even Da Piaoliang would not object!
However, Umbrella's conclusion that it is currently the world's number one biotechnology company has made many people feel disappointed.
After all, this virus is really difficult to deal with as it passes directly through the blood-brain barrier and hijacks nerve cells.
The high degree of differentiation and non-regeneration of central nervous system cells have too many limitations, and damage is irreversible.
"However, we have found a few people who were scratched by zombies. In the incubation period when the number of viruses entering the body is small, specific immunoglobulins can kill them, but there is a certain probability that they will cause irreversible damage to the brain. Because the data is too little, we cannot make a conclusion. The preliminary judgment is that there is a probability. In addition, injecting immunoglobulins in advance may have a certain protective effect before metabolism is completed, but no experiments have been conducted..."
At least, it's some useful information.
Immediately afterwards, the media began to kidnap and demand that Umbrella release the corresponding technology to deal with the K virus!
In fact, this trend has been around since the zombie virus was exposed, and it has been getting worse.
It goes without saying that someone is fanning the flames, and it's definitely not just one side.
The reason why it takes time to develop and ferment naturally is that no one wants to be a target.
Anyway, the rhythm is naturally brought about by public opinion, and you, Umbrella, cannot cover it up with one hand!
If the shipping king had not thrown dirty water on the beautiful authorities, they might have simply taken advantage of the situation and found an excuse to impose sanctions.
Now that Umbrella has spoken out about this matter itself, it will naturally not let go of the opportunity easily!
You guys brought this up yourselves, we're not targeting you!
Umbrella's throwing out of the paper at this time was actually an active guidance.
Umbrella also publicly responded to this statement.
"...In fact, since so many companies have purchased our culture media, they should have already produced a lot of corresponding immunoglobulins themselves. It's just that they haven't announced it because of the mass production problem. There are other institutions studying the K virus. They should also know that this virus is different from traditional viruses and is 'active'. The production and cultivation of immunoglobulins is extremely difficult. Even we can't achieve mass production."
Viruses are not actually classified as living organisms. They only have a protein shell and genetic material inside. They cannot absorb nutrients from the outside world on their own and can only complete their life through parasitism!
But this is not the case with the K virus!
This is a special virus with a simple structure and "activity". It can be said to be unique at present!
However, after waiting for Umbrella to reveal the flaw, Da Piaoliang immediately followed the trend and directly criticized the spokesperson:
"No matter what, the culture medium has risen to the level of global security, so it must be made public! Umbrella has already affected global security, and for this reason, the Federation may take some strong measures to sanction it."
