Eagle Country, Boston.
An ordinary restaurant in Chinatown was full of diners.
In this bustling restaurant, no one noticed the family enjoying Cantonese dim sum in the corner.
After the steamed chicken feet with black bean sauce was brought to the table, a little girl playfully tapped the table with her chopsticks.
A middle-aged man in his early forties, wearing a polo shirt and jeans, picked up chopsticks and served the little girl food with a smile.
He has an average appearance, wearing black-rimmed glasses, and his round face looks very friendly. He is enjoying delicious snacks with his young daughter, wife and mother.
After eating, he sent his family home and drove to the Broad Institute at MIT.
Here, someone is already waiting for him.
And he wants to negotiate a big deal with the other party.
Opening the door to the office, Dosten, with brown hair, dark eyes, and a neat suit, stood up immediately, smiled, and stretched out his hand respectfully.
"Dr. Zheng Feng, it's been a long time. The last time I met you was at the Human Genome Symposium."
Zheng Feng smiled lightly: "Mr. Dosten, I kept you waiting for a long time. Let's get started."
Dosten said with a smile: "I am very happy to have the opportunity to cooperate with you. We see this cooperation as a major opportunity to advance the next generation of gene editing therapies. This is an exciting scientific frontier with the opportunity to help rare disease genes." The patient is cured of the disease.”
"Pfizer has already drafted a contract and hopes to reach an agreement worth up to US$1.5 billion to advance a new in vivo base editing program for a series of rare diseases. This will be a new opportunity for us to overtake the curve."
As soon as he finished speaking, the lawyer beside him handed over a thick contract.
Zheng Feng smiled and nodded, opened the contract, and read through it quickly.
Dorsten's face was calm, but he was a little excited in his heart.
As the chief scientific officer of Pfizer, he accepted the appointment from the board of directors and reached a cooperation with the Broad Institute, the most powerful gene editing research institution in Eagle Country, to jointly develop genetic drugs for rare diseases.
He looked at Zheng Feng's oriental face across from him, and another face that also belonged to the East flashed across his mind, except that the latter's face was much more handsome and younger, which made him grit his teeth.
These two Eastern faces have one thing in common. They are both the most outstanding geniuses in the world today. They are recognized as the best scientists in the world and the most dazzling scientific research stars in the biomedical field.
Zheng Feng, the youngest laboratory director at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, one of the inventors of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology, and the best scientist in the fields of genetics and neuroscience.
Especially recently, he won a fierce patent battle and is about to become one of the richest scientists and entrepreneurs in Eagle Country. This is why Pfizer extended an olive branch and came to cooperate.
As for the other oriental face, Wei Kang, that genius, no, devil, who gives all pharmaceutical companies huge headaches, is the one whom Pfizer both loves and hates.
I love him because the cooperation with anti-cancer drugs allows Pfizer to earn huge revenue every year.
I hate him because Sanqing is constantly developing new drugs, pressing forward step by step, and constantly grabbing the market.
Like a huge shadow hanging over their heads, other overseas pharmaceutical giants are oppressed and breathless.
"Let this terrible orientalist deal with another terrible orientalist, and we at Pfizer can just sit back and reap the benefits."
Dosten looked at Zheng Feng and the lawyer discussing seriously and murmured to himself.
In fact, they were also inspired by Sanqing. The recent cooperation between Syngenta and Sanqing to develop genetic crops and develop super soybeans has caused a stir in the Western world and shocked many companies.
Pfizer has never given up research on gene therapy for rare diseases, and it is also quite capable. Unfortunately, compared with Sanqingyi, the gap is simply appalling.
And he kept following him from a distance, and he could only see his back. As time went by, the person in charge of this business became mentally unstable.
Most outstanding scientists are arrogant and confident.
No one can bear it. Whenever he makes a breakthrough in drug development for a rare disease, his opponent suddenly throws a bomb and announces that he has developed a genetic drug for this disease, directly pronouncing his death sentence.
It's just once or twice, but the opponents are addicted to doing this, and new drugs keep coming out like a blowout, leaving them with no way to survive and immediately collapse.
Fortunately, the Broad Institute recently obtained the patent for gene editing tools in Eagle Country, so Pfizer immediately turned its attention to this talented bioscientist.
They want to perfectly replicate the cooperation between Syngenta and Sanqing. One is researching genomes, and the other is making medical applications. Just like the other party develops genetic crops, they also continuously develop genetic drugs for rare diseases.
It just so happened that Zheng Feng also established a biotechnology company and wanted to promote the application of gene editing technology in gene therapy.
The two parties hit it off immediately and quickly reached a $1.5 billion cooperation agreement.
In their minds, this was a match made in heaven, perfect.
Of course, everyone ignored the fact that Sanqing was able to handle the genetic medicine alone, pretending not to see it.
Zheng Feng read the contract with his lawyer and felt that there was nothing wrong with it, so he smiled with satisfaction.
During this period, he was very proud. Not only did he obtain the patent for the application of CRISPR technology in human cells, but he also continued to expand his business territory.
Several companies under his name have received patent applications from many commercial organizations and can earn a lot of money from patent licensing fees alone, not to mention clinical drug cooperation with pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer.
CRISPR gene editing technology is a gold mine in Zheng Feng's hands. It not only gives him great fame and academic status, but also brings a steady stream of money.
Soon, both parties signed their signatures and successfully reached a cooperation.
Dorsten asked impatiently: "Dr. Zheng, since we are already partners, let me tell you straight away. We have invested heavily in genetic medicine and it has taken a long time, but we have gained very little. The board of directors can't wait any longer." We urgently need a new result to strengthen their confidence."
Zheng Feng smiled and said: "That's easy to say. My company is already conducting a clinical trial, mainly to treat congenital amaurosis type 10 by deleting the gene mutation that causes hereditary blindness. There are also some studies on immunotherapy. The genetic modification project is underway."
"I wonder what new projects you want to research?"
Dosten was categorical: "Beta-thalassemia and sickle cell disease, two diseases caused by hemoglobin gene mutations, we have applied CRISPR gene technology and have seen preliminary results in clinical trials. We hope to gain your With help, clinical trials can be launched as soon as possible.”
Zheng Feng was a little surprised: "You are also studying genetic drugs for thalassemia?"
He couldn't help but laugh: "It seems that this is a popular direction. After all, it is the rare disease with the largest number of people. The market potential is huge, and some people have already expanded the market."
Dosten chuckled: "You are talking about Sanqing, right? It is said that they used CRISPR gene technology to develop thalassemia gene drugs. Since they can use this technology to achieve results, you, as the original inventor of this technology, , it’s definitely no problem to achieve the same results.”
Zheng Feng showed a playful smile: "This matter was originally a bit difficult, but if we can learn from their solutions, there will be no problem."
"More importantly, the patent for this technology is in my hands. When we develop a thalassemia gene drug, we can completely ban them from using this patent, kick them out directly, and seize all the markets."
Dorsten slapped his thigh and said excitedly: "This idea is so great. We don't need to develop the market. Even clinical trials can refer to their data."
"I heard that the Broad Institute is suing Sanqing for patent infringement? So what are you waiting for? Just tell Sanqing to get lost."
"No, no, dear Mr. Dorsten, you are too impatient."
Zheng Feng looked leisurely and contented, picked up the glass on the table, took a sip of water, and said: "Don't forget, we haven't really developed a thalassemia gene drug yet. You know, patent litigation is a protracted battle. This For a while, I will have to ask Sanqing to collect patent fees."
"After all, their genetic medicines are selling really well." His eyes were gleaming, and his eyes instantly became extremely greedy.
****
Zheng Feng stood by the window and watched Dosten and his party go away.
My mood slowly returned to calm.
A big business of 1.5 billion US dollars. Even though he already knew the huge financial potential of this technology, such a big number still made his heart beat violently.
However, he has always learned quickly and has gradually become accustomed to this transition from scholar to businessman. Even if he is discussing cooperation with the world's number one pharmaceutical company like Pfizer, he can face it calmly and with ease.
"I have been learning and learning for many years, and now it is finally time to reap the rewards."
Zheng Feng murmured to himself, one scene after another flashing through his mind.
When I was 10 years old, I followed my mother across the ocean and settled in Eagle Country. It was the first time I saw the anxiety and novelty of a strange country.
Let's go back to the "Jurassic Park" movie I watched in middle school. That ancient movie tells the story of arrogant researchers who mixed the DNA of dinosaurs and frogs to bring extinct reptiles to reality.
These images left a deep imprint on his young mind, as well as a biological seed.
The seeds slowly sprouted under the water of interest, so when he was in high school, he went to intern in a laboratory researching gene therapy.
One autumn evening, as darkness gradually fell, while driving home, he was deeply shocked by the scene of falling leaves.
The leaves will die in just a few months. How easily a life disappears from this world without leaving a trace.
From that moment on, he made up his mind to accomplish something in this life.
It must not disappear quietly into this world like a dry leaf.
"It's important to me to do my best and make a difference," Zheng Feng said to himself.
Today, for anyone in science, he has done that.
His name is well-known in the academic world, and no one knows it.
Every time I go to a lecture, the room is packed to the brim with countless listeners.
The media flocked to interview him and his lab members, talking to him for hours, and reporting in depth on many of the details of his life that were unknown to the public.
His image is gradually becoming clearer in the eyes of the world.
A scientist with sharp vision but gentleness, an immigrant with great ambitions, a striver who hopes to climb to the highest peak in the land that accepted him, and a researcher who is slow and impatient for the development of his field. .
What a wonderful and successful Eagle Nation dream.
He became an academic celebrity and the spokesperson of the Eagle Nation Dream in the new era.
Fame, status, money, honor, all the things he fought for were all brought up for him to enjoy.
The public admired him, his colleagues envied him, and his opponents hated him, but there was nothing they could do about him except to slander his academic reputation behind his back.
But how could he care?
His ability to reach this point is all due to his own talent and hard work.
Of course, all of this is inseparable from the Bole in his life, his mentor - Durand, and the power behind him.
As the director of the Broad Institute, a top biologist, and the chief scientific advisor to the Grand Commander of the Eagle Nation, Durand has no doubt about the White House's influence in basic science.
Especially in the past year or two, he has even entered the palace and become a member of the Great Commander's inner ge, serving as the director of the Eagle Country's Science and Technology Policy Office.
This position is roughly equivalent to China's Minister of Science and Technology. It can be said that he holds a high position and is deeply trusted.
With such a background, it is not surprising that it can win the patent battle for CRISPR gene technology.
Zheng Feng couldn't help but smile as he thought of this boss.
He packed up the documents and walked briskly out to Durand's office on the third floor to show him the latest results.
This little old man with gray hair and sharp eyes, who was famous for his rough style, had a very gentle attitude towards Zheng Feng.
Listening to Zheng Feng's excited report, he showed an appreciative smile.
"Yes, you did a great job. I agree with you. Cooperation with Pfizer is undoubtedly a win-win situation and will set a perfect example of mutually beneficial cooperation for other commercial organizations."
"Your strategy for the Sanqing coincides with mine, so just do it."
"You know that the focus of my work is no longer here. I will leave the Sanqing matter to you. The lawsuit must be fought slowly, and the patent fees must be harvested slowly."
"Of course, this is not just about our personal interests, it's also about my other job."
Durand's expression became serious: "China's continued investment in the field of science and technology has eclipsed our leading position in basic science and technology. As the chief scientific adviser, I must take measures to maintain an advantage in this competition."
He emphasized: "The so-called measures are, at all costs! By any means!"
Zheng Feng was secretly happy and nodded respectfully: "Okay, tomorrow is the first out-of-court settlement with Sanqing. I will personally talk to their boss and I will definitely bring you good news."
He smiled, showing his white teeth: "Speaking of which, I am still a little curious about the young man named Wei Kang. I would like to see with my own eyes what kind of person he is."
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