CH410 | Heir

FDA staff visited Centurion.

I didn’t bother meeting them myself and left the reception to Dr. Kim Jangwoo and CEO Seo Jeongjun.

Two weeks passed that way.

The FDA staff came by almost every day to monitor treatment results firsthand.

And today, we finally heard very good news.

“The MERS treatment has officially gone on sale.”

“They started selling it faster than expected.”

“And there’s even better news from CEO Seo Jeongjun. He says the U.S. FDA will likely approve the MERS treatment by next month at the latest.”

The planning chief sounded excited as he reported the update.

It was no surprise. Getting a new drug approved by the FDA was notoriously difficult.

And while Centurion wasn’t technically part of Taewoo Group, most of its shares were held by me and the group. To the planning chief, it was essentially another Taewoo affiliate.

“Did they mention anything about the diabetes treatment?”

“The FDA staff took a very close look at it. It won’t be approved as quickly as the MERS treatment, but they did promise to move its application forward as a priority.”

That was still a solid result.

Diseases like MERS could qualify for emergency approval, but diabetes already had insulin and many other treatments available, making fast approval difficult.

Getting priority review was a strong outcome in itself.

And with Novo Nordisk’s technology combined with the work of Dr. Kim Jangwoo and his team, the chance of rejection was practically zero.

“Make sure the MERS treatment is produced and distributed smoothly. You can use every bit of Taewoo Group’s infrastructure if you need to.”

“With Taewoo Hospital leading MERS treatment, no one will find it strange if the group gets involved. I’ll personally stay at the plant and oversee everything.”

After sharing the good news, the planning chief left for Centurion’s factory.

Not long after, Vice Chairman Han came in with the same news, but a very different reaction.

“Chairman, Wall Street and domestic securities analysts have all released reports on the MERS treatment.”

“Of course they would. Once the treatment’s approved, analysts are bound to pay attention.”

“The problem is, the reports are very negative.”

He handed me a stack of printouts.

The titles alone made the contents obvious.

[The MERS Treatment Is Poison for Centurion!]
[A $50 Million Investment That Will Never Be Recovered]
[Is Centurion a Charity? Korea Has Only 180 MERS Patients]

Centurion was being torn apart.

And the difficult part was, there wasn’t anything false in those reports.

“Typical analysts. The reports are written very objectively.”

“To be honest, I agree with their points. Korea has only 180 MERS patients, and even if you count worldwide cases, it’s barely 2,000.”

“By simple math, if we charge $25,000 per treatment, the investment could be recovered.”

“At that price, Centurion would be branded a predatory pharmaceutical company worldwide.”

Naturally, it was a joke.

Who would pay tens of millions of won for a single dose?

Besides, MERS patients could often recover through respiratory treatment alone.

The mortality rate was over 20 percent, but the number of patients willing or able to pay that much for a treatment would be very small.

“Centurion will sell the MERS treatment for about 20,000 won a dose. That way, no one can call us a predatory company.”

“Once that price becomes public, Centurion’s stock will likely drop further. In fact, ever since the FDA approval announcement, the stock price has only been going down.”

Wasn’t it absurd?

Normally, when a new drug receives FDA approval, the company’s stock soars.

But Centurion was experiencing the exact opposite, with its low pricing treated as bad news.

“Do you think short-sellers are involved?”

“No, it doesn’t look that way. It’s mostly individual investors dumping shares. And since there isn’t much Centurion stock floating on the market, it’s not really structured for heavy shorting.”

“Then leave it be. A falling stock price doesn’t actually hurt Centurion.”

“That’s true, but analysts and rival pharmaceutical companies are mocking Centurion openly.”

Centurion had broken all conventions.

They had poured tens of millions of dollars into developing a treatment for a disease with very limited demand.

Even America’s largest pharmaceutical companies hadn’t done that, which was exactly why FDA staff had come all the way to Korea to see the results for themselves.

“Let them laugh. A few years from now, they’ll have those words thrown back at them.”

“You’re putting a lot of faith in the diabetes drug, aren’t you? I also think Centurion could turn the tables with it.”

Vice Chairman Han had the wrong idea.

Yes, a diabetes drug with weight-loss effects would cause a huge stir. But that alone wouldn’t be enough to silence the mocking rivals.

Only when COVID-19 hit years later—when Centurion’s experience with coronavirus treatments and vaccines allowed it to outpace everyone—would that laughter truly be returned in full.

There was no need to explain all that to him.

Since the topic had already shifted to the diabetes drug, I steered the conversation further.

“How’s the FDA approval process for the diabetes treatment going?”

“Very smoothly. The FDA is handling it unusually quickly. But once it’s approved, won’t Novo Nordisk try to make trouble?”

The drug had originally belonged to Novo Nordisk.

But it wasn’t as if we had stolen it. We had paid a huge sum for it, fair and square.

“With the contract in black and white, they can’t challenge it. They may be bitter, but they can’t dispute it.”

“And if they try to argue the contract is invalid?”

“That’s unlikely. But if they do, then we’ll push back. We’ll expose the weaknesses we hold over Novo Nordisk.”

We held a very strong card.

Novo Nordisk had stolen the AI system that Taewoo Group had poured vast sums into developing.

Of course, we had dangled it in front of them, tempting them to take it. But that didn’t mean they had the right to pick it up like a wallet dropped on the street and use it as their own.

“Novo Nordisk could try to retaliate in other ways. For instance, they might leak the diabetes drug formula to other companies or develop a competing treatment.”

“We hold the patents. Skirting around them to create a new drug would take years. And if they share the recipe with another company, they’d owe us damages so large it could bankrupt them.”

We had already set the trap in advance.

When we signed the rights-transfer contract, we added clauses that locked Novo Nordisk down with iron chains.

“Then it shouldn’t pose any serious problem.”

“You seem very invested in the pharmaceutical side these days. I guess that means you have more free time lately.”

“The Chinese stock market has stabilized. It’s still swinging up and down, but not by much.”

“Just sit tight for a few more months. Early next year, the situation will shift again.”

“That’s why we’ve scaled back short selling and moved more capital into the currency market. Toward the end of the year, we’ll expand the shorts again.”

George, the head of Quantum Fund, was continuing to rack up profits through the yuan.

Not as high as short-selling returns, of course, but still far better than most investments.

“George is finally putting his expertise to full use, I see.”

“He’s like a man ten years younger—running around with endless energy.”

“Make sure he doesn’t overdo it. He’ll be needed for the next project too.”

“You’ve already planned the next project?”

Vice Chairman Han’s voice cracked as he blurted the question, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“I’m considering a European country with close ties to China.”

“It would be harder to find a European country without ties to China.”

“It’s also a country George has a long history with.”

“Could it be the United Kingdom?”

“That’s right. After China, the UK is our next target.”

George had once fought and won against Britain. And Britain’s history of ruling Hong Kong tied it closely to China.

But neither of those reasons had anything to do with why I had chosen the UK as the next target.

“Does this have something to do with the Conservative Party’s victory in the recent general election?”

“Exactly. You remember the Prime Minister’s campaign promise, don’t you?”

“…Brexit. Do you really think Britain will leave the European Union?”

Brexit.

The word itself meant nothing less than Britain’s withdrawal from the EU.

Earlier this year, the Conservative Party had secured a sweeping victory in the general election, campaigning on Brexit as its central pledge.

“Until just a few months before the election, no one thought the Conservatives could win an outright majority. But they did, and now they can form a government on their own.”

“Even so, they can’t just push through Brexit however they like.”

“Of course not. But since it was their flagship promise, they’ll have no choice but to hold a national referendum.”

A policy as far-reaching as Brexit would require the approval of a majority of the people.

And Britain wasn’t a single, uniform country—it was a union that included Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

That was why most observers, Vice Chairman Han included, thought the referendum had little chance of passing.

“Even the Conservatives don’t really expect Brexit to succeed. It’s just a rallying cry for their base.”

“They rallied their base too well. Brexit will pass by a majority vote. And Britain will leave the European Union.”

“If that happens, the fallout will be enormous. I think I finally understand why you chose the UK as our next target after China.”

Brexit would shake not only Britain but the entire European Union.

Because it would trigger such chaos, laying the groundwork early was the key to reaping the greatest gains later.

“There’s no need to prepare everything right now. For the moment, treat it as reconnaissance. Once we wrap up the short-selling operation in China in January, that’s when we’ll move in earnest.”

“When should we announce our UK strategy to the Finance Tower?”

“Not until we’ve started our work. February or March should be right. George should be briefed a bit earlier, though.”

“I’ll draft a plan based on that timeline!”

Opportunities were everywhere.

We had already made a fortune from shorting China, but if Taewoo Group was to stand at the center of the world, the more war chest we had, the better.