godfather of surgery

Chapter 1236: Breakthrough
Yang Ping carefully analyzed the structure of factor K and then compared it with the nutrient solution used to culture the tumor at that time. Using the method of structural comparison analysis, he initially speculated that the possibility of factor K being generated by the chemical reaction between the components of the nutrient solution was very small.

Based on the fundamental principle of atomic conservation in chemical reactions, although the atoms that make up the K factor overlap with the atoms in the nutrient solution, many of their basic structures and functional groups have very little overlap with the nutrients, thus lacking a high probability of chemical transformation.

Yang Ping also made theoretical speculations about several other possible causes, but the probability was very small. In the end, Yang Ping still tended to believe that the tumor cells themselves produced the K factor.

After thinking about some basic principles, Yang Ping came to a simple conclusion: the K factor is not a simple chemical substance, but a complex protein structure. It cannot be accomplished by a simple, accidental chemical reaction. Even if such a chemical reaction could be accomplished, it would require an extremely long time and involve countless chemical reactions.

Every chemical reaction is accidental, and these accidents eventually come together with such a small probability that it is infinitely close to zero.

The probability of something being infinitely close to zero needs to be accumulated to eventually form a greater probability. This requires a long period of trial and error. For example, the formation of proteins in life is like this, which takes hundreds of millions of years of accidental accumulation to form.

Now that Yang Ping has concluded that tumor cells secrete factor K themselves, the next crucial step is to determine whether the process of tumor cells secreting factor K at that time can be replicated and then studied.

To replicate the process at that time, it is necessary to analyze the entire experimental environment. Any conditions that were accidentally overlooked may be the most critical ones.

After leaving the system space, Yang Ping took advantage of his time off work to visit the retired cadres at the Overseas Chinese Building who were undergoing physical examinations, especially those who had undergone surgery. He wanted to chat with them and learn from their indomitable fighting spirit, their unique confidence and courage, and their perseverance in the face of adversity.

These elderly comrades also enjoyed chatting with Yang Ping, holding his hand and talking non-stop. The elderly comrades who had undergone surgery asked every day when they would be discharged from the hospital, probably because they felt uncomfortable staying in the hospital all day.

As soon as I came out of the Overseas Chinese Building, I received a call from Dean Xia. He said that a leader from the capital city had come to visit the elderly comrades who were having their physical examinations. He had already visited the elderly comrades in the morning and had been staying here ever since, hoping to meet Yang Ping.

This leader, who is in charge of the national health industry, has not met Yang Ping since Sanbo Hospital was placed under the direct management of the capital city. He has been in contact with Dean Xia.

It wasn't that he was too busy to see Yang Ping, but rather that he tried to avoid meeting Yang Ping in order to maintain Yang Ping's previous free and easy working environment and prevent Yang Ping from feeling controlled.

The leader created a "chance" opportunity to meet Yang Ping. After learning about the leader's thoughts, Dean Xia was quite moved. It seems that the leaders above also value Yang Ping. Otherwise, they would not have upgraded the entire Sanbo Hospital to be directly managed by the capital city for his sake, nor would they have taken such good care of his feelings.

From the leader's perspective, such a talented doctor is extremely rare, and he must be given a work environment that he likes, which cannot be damaged at will, not even in the slightest.

“It’s an informal meeting, just like our usual chat. We can sit down, have some tea, and chat. I’ll be there the whole time.” Dean Xia was afraid Yang Ping would refuse, so he tried his best to explain. He knew Yang Ping’s personality well; Yang Ping hated formalities the most.

"Alright!" Yang Ping agreed. He had to give the leader face, especially since the leader had always been very supportive of him and Sanbo Hospital. Putting everything else aside, he should go see the leader and say thank you just for that.

The meeting was not formal at all; it was very ordinary. It took place in Dean Xia's office, with Dean Xia accompanying him throughout. The leader was also very amiable and chatted with Yang Ping as if they were having a casual conversation, without any trace of hierarchy.

During the discussion, the leader expressed considerable concern about some key basic technologies in the pharmaceutical industry, as many of these technologies are currently in a state of extreme backwardness. Due to the special nature of the pharmaceutical industry, its development is slower than that of other industries.

The leader mentioned a core technology related to vaccines—adjuvants. This crucial technology, which is vital to the national economy and people's livelihoods, is mostly imported. With the core technology completely in the hands of others, any slight disturbance could affect the health of many people.

Vaccines are a familiar concept, but vaccine adjuvants are less well understood. Adjuvants are substances added to vaccines to enhance the immunogenicity of vaccine antigens. From the name, adjuvants might seem like mere seasonings in vaccine production, like ingredients in cooking—unimportant. However, in reality, adjuvants play a crucial role in vaccines.

For example, recombinant protein vaccines only include the pathogen portion that provides protection through immune recognition. This increases vaccine purity and reduces side effects, but also lowers the immunogenicity of the vaccine.

The only way to resolve this contradiction is to add adjuvants to enhance the immunogenicity of the vaccine.

Therefore, adjuvants are indispensable and very important; without them, vaccines simply cannot be produced.

International pharmaceutical giants place extraordinary importance on adjuvants, and there are numerous cases of them using superior adjuvants to enhance the efficacy of their vaccine products and defeat their competitors.

GlaxoSmithKline's bivalent HPV vaccine was outmatched by Merck's quadrivalent and nonavalent HPV vaccines in terms of valence. However, by adding a novel and superior adjuvant developed in-house to its recombinant shingles vaccine Shingrix, GlaxoSmithKline ultimately overwhelmed Merck's shingles vaccine and successfully turned the tide.

Merck's Zostavax is an attenuated shingles vaccine. Before Shingrix was introduced, it was the undisputed leader in the shingles vaccine market.

However, the advent of GlaxoSmithKline's Shingrix changed this situation. Shingrix is ​​a recombinant protein vaccine that combines the varicella-zoster virus gE protein with the independently developed AS01B adjuvant.

The addition of the AS01B adjuvant significantly enhanced the immune response of the vaccine, successfully defeating Merck's Zostavax and dethroning it from its dominant position.

Adjuvants are so important, but there are very few types. Apart from aluminum adjuvants, which were discovered a hundred years ago, there are only five new adjuvants, all of which are produced by foreign vaccine companies.

What is the situation in China? Currently, only aluminum adjuvants are available domestically. Other new adjuvants can only be obtained through cooperation with foreign companies. This so-called cooperation is nothing more than another form of paying money to buy adjuvants.

More and more domestic vaccine companies are recognizing the importance and scarcity of adjuvants and attempting to break the deadlock, but progress has been extremely slow, with no breakthrough achieved so far this year. Given their importance, why are only a handful of adjuvants approved worldwide? Because their development is incredibly difficult.

Domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers are small in scale and invest little in research and development. Compared with those pharmaceutical giants, their strength is far too disparate. Those pharmaceutical giants often have tens of billions of US dollars in R&D funding every year, while there are very few domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers with annual revenue exceeding tens of billions of US dollars.

Why is adjuvant development so difficult? In fact, all drugs, whether preventative or therapeutic, are very difficult to develop.

First, there is the issue of safety. Adjuvants are substances that work with vaccines and are injected into the human body, so they must be safe. It is very difficult to find a safe and effective substance.

Secondly, the mechanism of action of adjuvants is very complex. Adjuvant research has long been called the "dirty little secrets" of the vaccine industry. This is mainly because researchers have a very shallow understanding of the mechanism of action of adjuvants. To date, researchers have not yet figured out the mechanism of action of many adjuvants.

Previously, the development of adjuvants could only follow empirical science and sometimes relied on luck. However, in recent years, the development of modern immunology, especially the accumulation and summarization of knowledge about innate immunity, has enabled researchers to have a deeper understanding of certain mechanisms of adjuvants based on the overall progress of immunological knowledge, which has accelerated the development of vaccine adjuvants to some extent.

Finally, the manufacturing process is very difficult. It is a difficult process for a drug to go from the laboratory to the factory. The biggest difficulty is the manufacturing process. New adjuvants often require new processes, and the research on the manufacturing process is also a very complex process.

Adjuvant research is so difficult. Domestic pharmaceutical companies are small in size, lack technological accumulation, and do not attach importance to research and development. Naturally, they cannot master core technologies. Not to mention pharmaceutical companies that develop adjuvants, even pharmaceutical companies that develop vaccines are few and far between in China. How can they compare with those international pharmaceutical giants?

After hearing the leader's analysis, Yang Ping understood the importance of adjuvants. Vaccines are related to national health, and adjuvants are the core technology of vaccines, which is currently a weak link. The leader expressed extreme concern about this.

Beyond vaccine adjuvants, the leader also listed several other key core technologies in the pharmaceutical industry. These technologies are extremely important foundational technologies for the pharmaceutical industry, and the consequences of restricting them would be unimaginable.

After exchanging ideas with his superior, Yang Ping found that his superior was very professional, had many insightful views on the pharmaceutical industry, and possessed a strong strategic vision.

Yang Ping is currently focusing his energy on some original research projects, such as K therapy for tumors. The development of "adjuvants" is a follow-up project, but since it is very important, Yang Ping decided to establish this project and rely on the strength of the laboratory and Ruixing Company to achieve a breakthrough as soon as possible.

The laboratory is responsible for research and development, while Ruixing is responsible for industrialization. A technology has a long way to go from the laboratory to application, and every link needs to be done well. It is necessary for the laboratories of research institutes and factories to form a close chain.

"Professor Yang, I'm just having a private chat with you today, nothing more. You don't need to feel pressured. Let's take things slowly, work together, be down-to-earth, and take it one step at a time. One day we'll be able to solve these problems. We've solved so many problems before, haven't we? I believe there are always more solutions than problems; we just haven't found them yet." The leader picked up his teacup and took a small sip.

He had never met Yang Ping in person before, and this was the first time. Although he knew Yang Ping was very young, he was still surprised when he actually met him. Yang Ping looked like a recent college graduate, with such clear and confident eyes.

Yang Ping also secretly noted down what his leader said. He pondered the research on adjuvants in his mind and then said, "The research on adjuvants is not difficult in terms of technology, but it is difficult in terms of industrialization. Just now, after listening to your analysis, I learned that all adjuvants are controlled by foreign pharmaceutical giants. I think it is not difficult to make a breakthrough in technology, but it is very difficult to break through their market position. After all, they have a first-mover advantage, and it is difficult for newcomers to surpass them in terms of cognition and cost."

The leader raised an eyebrow. "What a boastful young man! He actually said that adjuvants aren't technically difficult to make. If it were anyone else, the leader would definitely think he was just bragging."

But now it's Yang Ping who's saying this. The leaders know Yang Ping better than anyone else. He won the Nobel Prize at such a young age. Don't think that the Nobel Prize is easy to win. In any case, it is the world's top award in natural sciences, and Nobel Prize achievements represent the highest level of research in the world.

“Professor Yang, as long as we can make a technological breakthrough, you don’t need to worry about industrialization. We are well aware of these matters that concern international public opinion. We absolutely cannot let capital dominate; we must have a strategic plan.”

The leader perked up, eager to hear Yang Ping's opinion; he leaned forward, concentrating intently.

Yang Ping said, "Our laboratory can now undertake some national key research projects, such as vaccine adjuvant research. We can get projects approved very quickly. We didn't pay attention to these aspects before, so we didn't have any projects in this area."

Yang Ping was deeply impressed by the leader's foresight. He was not as bureaucratic as he had imagined, but rather more like a refined and humble scholar. His thinking was extremely deep, broad, and time-spanning, and he always viewed issues from a strategic perspective. Therefore, Yang Ping was willing to have frank exchanges with him.

“Professor Yang, you’re very busy right now. Why don’t you wait until our super lab is successfully built before starting the project? We are currently severely understaffed in our lab, and that would disrupt your current research plans.” Dean Xia immediately spoke up for Yang Ping, worried that Yang Ping might have taken on the task on a whim. Besides, the leaders were just chatting and had not actually assigned any tasks.

Yang Ping waved his hand: "We won't need many people, we can handle it."

The leader was delighted and immediately said, "If you need anything in the future, you can always tell Dean Xia, or you can contact me directly."

"I will," Yang Ping said.

The super lab is progressing smoothly, but because every detail needs to be handled carefully, the pace is not very fast. Since no one is in the mood to rush the project, even if it were done quickly, it would still take two or three years. So, waiting for the super lab to be completed would probably delay important matters, so it's better to focus on getting the project approved now.

With the existing team's strength, researching adjuvants is not difficult. The most crucial trial-and-error process can be done in the system space, which is the source of his confidence to initiate the project immediately.

PS: I will now resume normal updates. Thank you all for your continued support. I will try my best to replace the plot points and word counts that were cut due to various reasons.