Magic Doctor CEO Lady's Humble Husband (Fade Chen)
Chapter 707

Soon after, the elderly Mr. Tu had arrived, and the duo waited. After a while, Daphne who had gotten off work, also hurried over.

Daphne seemed wan, her whole demeanour carrying an air of exhaustion.

Daphne greeted them, "Hello, Dr. Chen, Mr. Tu, you've arrived."

Fade pulled out a seat and said, "Dr. Tao, there's no need to be courteous. Let's talk while we eat."

Daphne nodded and took her seat.

Fade didn't beat around the bush. He cut straight to the chase and said, "Dr. Tao, I just came back yesterday. Early this morning, I found out that Fei Enterprises Holdings Inc's Life Elixir Wine was so well received that there were incidents of customers snapping up bottles of wine."

"Upon investigation, I found out that the main reason was the sudden increase in the medical fees of the hospitals."

"I heard that a treatment for a mere cold costs one or two thousand yuan now."

"Dr. Tao, what's going on here? Why would the hospital's fees increase by so much?" Fade couldn't help but ask.

Daphne sighed and said helplessly, "I know what's going on, but to tell you the truth, the hospital is forced to raise their medical fees."

"Why so?" Fade asked.

Daphne said, "Dr. Chen, Mr. Tu, both of you are doctors. You should know that there is a commonly used drug known as the betalactam antibiotic that is circulating in the hospitals."

"Yes, I'm well aware." Mr. Tu nodded and said, "Beta-lactam antibiotic is a basic medicine, which is common in various anti-inflammatory drugs and cold medicines."

Daphne nodded and said, "The rapid increase in the medical expenses is caused by the betalactam antibiotic."

"How?" Fade was still puzzled.

Daphne explained, "Beta-lactam antibiotic is better known as Alstom Antibiotic abroad. It was Alstom, a scientist from Micovia who developed this antibiotic."

"When the Alstom Antibiotic was successfully developed, the magnate of the pharmaceutical industry, the Bald Eagle Pharma of Micovia, purchased the patent right. Over ten years ago, the Bald Eagle Pharma gave authorization to various pharmaceutical companies all over the world to produce the antibiotics at a low price solely on the basis to promote the popularization of the Alstom Antibiotic."

"Over the decades, there have been thousands of pharmaceutical companies all over the world producing this Alstom Antibiotic, which has promoted the use of these antibiotics throughout the world." Upon this, Fade vaguely had an ominous feeling.

As expected, Daphne went on, "Just three months ago, the authorization rights of the Bald Eagle expired. Bald Eagle requested all the pharmaceutical factories to purchase the exclusive patent right of the antibiotics in order for them to continue to produce the antibiotics."

"And now, Bald Eagle Pharma has increased the exclusive usage rights by a hundred fold, pushing the figure up to a terrifying 50 million dollars. There are only a handful of pharmaceutical factories in our country that is able to afford such an extravagant price."

"Thus, as the patent has expired, many pharmaceutical factories in the country were forced to halt the production of the Alstom Antibiotic. As a result, the supply was greatly reduced but the demand remains high. This led to an alarming shortage of antibiotics. They could only rely on their remaining stock or resolve to importing the said drugs imported from other countries to treat diseases."

"In doing so, the cost will be much higher, and the medical expense will also rise followingly," Daphne said.

When he heard this, Fade's face darkened and he fell silent.

He understood the feeling of having your life within the control of one's palm, it was not a delighted one. That was related to why you need to have your own intellectual property rights in a lot of the matters of your country. In doing so, you can prevent this kind of rogue behavior with regard to patents.

However, as things have already happened, they must now find a way to solve this problem.

A question popped into Fade's mind, "For such a major issue, do you know if the relevant departments would issue any countermeasures?"

Daphne said, "Before the end of the expiry of the patent, the relevant departments have made corresponding preparations. They sent people to negotiate with Bald Eagle Pharma, hoping that Bald Eagle could reduce the cost of the patent for mass production. On the other hand, the relevant departments have also gathered scientific experts to invent new drugs." "It's just that, as all of you are also aware, drug research is an extremely time-consuming process. Moreover, even if we manage to invent a new drug, we are still required to conduct all sorts of tests. All these processes take up a lot of time. In the short term, we can hardly rely on our domestic drugs to replace the Alstom Antibiotic."

Fade nodded. He was also a doctor, so he knew how difficult and lengthy it was to invent new medication.

Daphne went on, "Although the cost of Bald Eagle Pharma's exclusive rights greatly shook us, it shouldn't have caused such a dire situation for Dragonville. The reason is attributed to Maritime Ocean Pharma."

"Maritime Ocean Pharma? " Fade asked, there was a puzzled look on his face.

Daphne said, "Maritime Ocean Pharma is a large pharmaceutical company in Jade City. Because of its location, it shares a close relationship with foreign countries, so it has always relied on importing drugs from other countries into the country as a means of churning revenue."

"Maritime Ocean Pharma is the one in charge of the drug importation into Dragonville since the expiry of Alstom Antibiotics' patent.

Somehow Maritime is intentionally targeting us."

Fade frowned and said, "Targeting us? Why do you say so?"

Daphne explained, "Even if Bald Eagle Pharma shoots up the right to mass production, it shouldn't put us in a frenzy. This medicine has a wide range of use and many countries and pharmaceutical companies have great power. If Bald Eagle Pharma pushes them too hard when they no longer want to cooperate, Bald Eagle Pharma will be at a tight position."

"The initial price that Bald Eagle Pharma proposed is rather costly, but it's still within an acceptable range. It should not rise to such a level that we cannot afford."

"However, Maritime Ocean Pharma, who is in charge of the import of medicine into Dragonville, has tripled the price. This leads to a rise in the price of the Alstom Antibiotic in Dragonville. As a direct result, medical fees have also increased exponentially."

When Fade heard this, his expression tensed. His eyes burned with rage. He said, "Is Maritime Ocean Pharma not afraid that the relevant department and the Bald Eagle Pharma will investigate them?" Daphne shook her head helplessly and said, "This company is originally a company in Jade City. It does not fear the domestic investigation from the local departments at all. As for Bald Eagle Pharma, the only thing that they are doing right now is turning a blind eye to this matter, feigning ignorance."

"I guess they want to use the current situation of Dragonville as an example to warn everyone else. If they don't buy the right from them soon enough, they might become the subsequent situation like Dragonville."

Mr. Tu was furious. He slammed his palm on the table and said angrily, "These foreigners had gone too far. Those people from Maritime Ocean Pharma as well. As fellow citizens, how can they do this to their own people?"

Daphne could only shake her head, sighing dejectedly.

Fade's face darkened, his expression was gloomy.