People Come First
People Come First
Jaeseong Bio's dementia treatment drug was steadily accumulating clinical trial data.
It was administered primarily to severe dementia patients. These were patients who were on the brink of death. They were patients who had already been given a terminal prognosis anyway.
They were dementia patients whose conditions were so severe that nothing could be done. All they could do was lie in bed, relying on ventilators to keep them alive.
The clinical trials weren't difficult. That was because patients whose lives were in danger were the ones applying. In fact, they were scrambling to apply, saying they wanted to receive it. It got to the point where there were even people protesting in front of the Jaeseong Bio building, gorae-gorae shouting that they wanted to participate in the clinical trials.
A month had passed since Jaeseong Bio officially announced through a press conference that they had created a perfect dementia treatment.
In that short time, a whopping 200 severe dementia patients found a new life. Even after being declared fully cured, they continued the work of tracking the patients' health status.
This was because they didn't know when the side effects of this new drug might appear. However, as if mocking such tests, the follow-up exams showed they were perfectly normal.
The dementia patients who regained their second life shed tears jul-jul of joy. And the same went for their children who confirmed that their parents had returned to their senses. It even reached the point where videos of them hugging each other and crying were spreading widely on the internet.
It was true that Jaeseong Bio had developed a dementia treatment. If not, it would have been the same as saying that over 300 people were lying.
Of course, it wasn't a lie. Even the university hospitals conducting the clinical trials acknowledged it was true.
However, a desperate statement came out for dementia patients.
[Dementia treatment... can we only meet it in 10 years?]
[New drug development... inevitable that it takes over 10 years]
[Let's look at the realistic new drug development process]
[Jaeseong Bio's revolution... but the government is silent]
Originally, in the case of pharmaceuticals, especially new drugs, they had to be strictly managed and approved over a long period of time. Basically, for a new drug to be developed and normally sold on the market, a long process of at least 10 years was required.
And this process could never be compromised for the health and safety of the patient.
There were no exceptions.
In that sense, for the new drug created by Jaeseong Bio to be sold on the market... it would take over 10 years at the fastest. Jaeseong Bio had no power. It was obvious that the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety wouldn't grant approval quickly either.
What if they granted approval for the dementia treatment and a fatal side effect occurred? The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety would be the only one to take the heat. Jaeseong Bio would get flak too, though.
The expectations of dementia patients who were only waiting for the day the new drug would come out were bound to collapse due to the announcement from the Jaeseong Bio side.
[Jaeseong Bio plans to continue steady clinical trials, and regarding the initial supply volume according to this...]
It meant they would continue to conduct clinical trials with the small production volume.
It was less than 100 people per month.
There were over 1 million dementia patients in the country alone. It was like peeing on a frozen foot. Now everyone knew. The competition rate was bound to skyrocket, and there was no guarantee they would be selected.
The most serious thing was the 10 years of time.
It was absolutely not a time that dementia patients could endure. They would definitely pass away before then. Because dementia was that terrifying of a disease.
And considering the age of the elderly, enduring 10 years was close to a miracle.
Even so, they couldn't curse at Jaeseong Bio. Jaeseong Bio wasn't some supra-legal organization. It was natural that they had to follow administrative procedures. Because Jaeseong Bio was just a company in the Republic of Korea.
However, when a person's life is on the line, people lose their reason.
The families of dementia patients gathered. They gathered in front of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety building. The families gathered in front of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety building in North Chungcheong Province shouted at the top of their lungs, holding signs and megaphones.
"Approve the sale of Jaeseong Bio's new drug!"
"Can't you see the dying dementia patients! Does it make sense to just watch lives that can be saved while clinging to cliché and outdated procedures!"
"Save our moms and dads!!!"
"Whether we die from side effects or die from dementia, losing a life is the same!"
"Didn't you say the side effects were minimal in the first place!"
The new drug approval process is a major process for patient safety, but for dementia patients, such a process was the same as a death sentence.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety employees had no choice but to be flustered.
Because there were thousands of people protesting in front of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety building just by looking.
"Hey, you bastard! Is it okay just because you're living well? Can't you see people whose lives are at risk?"
"Seonsaeng-nim...! Please calm down!"
"You fucking asshole!"
"Kyaaaack!"
Physical clashes with employees entering the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety building were basic, and when portable megaphones didn't work, there were people who installed large speakers themselves to speak.
News reporters also scrambled to film this scene for broadcast.
A reporter with a serious expression looked at the broadcast camera and said.
"I know that administrative procedures for new drug development are necessary, but it is difficult to just watch the suffering of 1 million dementia patients."
"The Minister of Food and Drug Safety has no official announcement, and the conflict between the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety employees and the patients' families is expected to grow."
----------------------------------------------------
Naturally, there was a debate about the dementia treatment on the internet as well.
[Shouldn't they approve the new drug quickly?]
[My house has a grandmother who is a dementia patient too... I hope the medicine is sold quickly.]
[There should be some flexibility. Is the administrative procedure more important than the patients' lives? People were born and then laws were created, laws weren't born and then people were created, right?]
There were opinions that new drug approval should be done quickly...
[Approving is fine. But if side effects occur, who will take responsibility? If side effects that cause loss of life occur, won't you just play dumb then?]
[Do you think new drug approval is that easy... If any Tom, Dick, or Harry could do it, they wouldn't say new drug development is difficult in the first place.]
[Tsk tsk, this is why the sheeple are no good, you have to follow administrative procedures, who are you to say approve or not?]
There were also negative opinions.
However, what was certain was that it was like a hot potato heating up the Republic of Korea. Everywhere, there was nothing but talk about the dementia treatment.
At work, at home, on TV broadcasts, at nursing homes, wherever people gathered, the story came up. It was a structure where people's interest was bound to naturally gather.
"By the way, isn't it a jackpot if the dementia treatment comes out?"
"Right, I saw on the news that it could create an economic benefit of over 500 trillion won?"
"500 trillion? That's a jackpot."
"Doesn't the number 1 bio company in our country have a market cap of 80 trillion?"
"Yeah. I heard it's about that much... But how did the economic value of 500 trillion come out? Did someone calculate it?"
"They say it's based on the standard of being sold worldwide. They said there are tens of millions of dementia patients worldwide. If you assume those patients take one dementia treatment pill a day... that much revenue could come out."
"Jaeseong Bio will take 1st place as a bio company in Korea from now on."
"That's right. If the dementia treatment is real, that is. Honestly, I still think it's a lie. I don't think dementia is a disease that is cured that easily."
The market cap of the best-performing bio company overseas was 3,000 trillion won. Jaeseong Bio could generate over 500 trillion won in revenue just by developing one dementia treatment. That meant the market cap was much higher than that.
A solid bio company was emerging in the Republic of Korea as well. Although the problem was that if it was according to the facts known in the news, it was a matter of 10 years later.
The news talked about nothing but the dementia treatment every single day.
The conflict between the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the families of dementia patients grew larger and larger. It wasn't something that could be stopped just because they said it could be stopped.
Since they didn't know when their parents would pass away, telling them to wait for administrative procedures was too cruel. However, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's position was also difficult. Because it was normal for all new drugs to be sold through strict procedures and sequences.
Each other's opinions were running on parallel lines. The families were saying to approve the sale quickly... and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety side only repeated like a parrot to wait for administrative procedures.
"Ppi-ppi!"
In the end, even the police had no choice but to step in.
Hundreds of police officers were standing guard in front of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety building.
The security guards operated by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety alone could not stop the citizens. They needed the help of public power. If not, the dementia patients' families would ureureu swarm into the building and cause a ruckus.