top student at medical school

Chapter 620 My Heart is Panicking (Please Subscribe)
"Boom boom boom!"

"Knock knock knock!" While Fang Ziye was chatting with Luo Tingzhu, the knocking on the door sounded rather urgently.

Then Professor Li Yongjun's voice rang out: "Ziye, it's me, open the door!"

"It's Professor Li. I'll go open the door, I'll hang up now." Fang Ziye didn't want to get involved in trouble, and he especially didn't want his wife to get into trouble. Some things shouldn't be explained in detail if they're not public.

After Fang Ziye ended the video call, he replied, "Coming, Professor Li."

After opening the door and letting Professor Li Yongjun in, we saw that Professor Li Yongjun's expression was particularly colorful. He made faces for a while before finally finding a sofa to sit down.

The guesthouse has nice interior and exterior furnishings. It has an inner and outer room, with a reception area outside, which has tea and sofas, and a red lacquered wooden round table surrounded by four sofas.

"Teacher Li, would you like tea or mineral water?" Fang Ziye asked.

There was tea in the room, but Fang Ziye didn't know what kind of tea it was, so he only opened the bottled water.

"Put the tea and water aside for now, Ziye. Did you offend someone in Kyoto?"

"When I went to the small meeting just now, a leader specifically called out your name and asked you to go to the oncology group meeting?" Li Yongjun asked directly.

The meeting room might be divided into groups, such as a vascular group or a tumor group, but Fang Ziye doesn't know the specifics.

He shook his head and said, "I don't know?"

But after asking, Fang Ziye remembered something and asked, "Professor Li, what's the name of the leader who called my name?"

"Thank you, Heng!"

“He happens to be a leader from our Health and Wellness Commission!” Li Yongjun said, then, seeing Fang Ziye’s hesitant expression, added.

"I doubt you could possibly offend someone like that, so where exactly did things go wrong?"

Fang Ziye was inwardly groaning, wondering if he had been set up.
According to Professor Li Yongjun's estimation, he was not qualified to participate in such a meeting and was forcibly "recruited".

Looking back now, the person who specifically requested to attend the oncology conference group was surnamed Xie.

Then shouldn't I have come to Kyoto in the first place?
"Tumor group, tumor group."

"That's very likely because of your orthopedic tumor cases!"

"Although your orthopedic tumor microcirculation chemotherapy regimen has not yet been fully rolled out, after discussion by the expert group, it was deemed to be highly feasible, so we included you in the program ahead of schedule." Li Yongjun had been to Enshi, so he knew some of the things Fang Ziye had done.

Fang Ziye asked, "Professor Li, are most of the people attending these kinds of meetings academicians?"

Li Yongjun said, "Of course, academicians are the main force in scientific research and development, but academicians are also divided into those who are in their prime and those who are senior."

"Those older academicians basically won't take on any more important tasks anymore, after all, they're getting old..."

"Most of the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are related to life sciences, while those who can attend the conference are mostly academicians from the Medical Division of the Chinese Academy of Engineering."

"Moreover, the divisions are in various specialties, so each group still needs some professors to attend."

"For example, in our vascular surgery department, Academician Cheng Xiaoping is in his prime..."

Fang Ziye nodded upon hearing this, and then asked, "Professor Li, if an academician strongly recommends someone, do you think there's a chance to get me involved?"

Fang Ziye knew he might go numb.

He couldn't possibly be unaware of the fact that he had remotely targeted Professor Zhang Limin; this was a point-to-point response.

Now the roles have reversed. Professor Zhang Limin has taken a liking to him and wants to target him from a distance, and he has given him a 'super high' platform from the very beginning.

Similar to how he broadened the horizons of his own students, Professor Zhang Limin wanted to show him China's top academic exchange platform.

It was not an international academic conference, nor was it a conference that surpassed the general academicians' meeting; rather, it was a mysterious conference second only to the general academicians' meeting.

Being chosen by an academician and then receiving targeted treatment doesn't feel very good.

However, since he provoked the whole thing, he can only respond to Professor Zhang Limin's counterattack as it comes.

Academicians Gu Yuandong and Qiu Zhenghua are too old to attend such a meeting. They may come, but they may not be in the same group as me.

At that point, we'll just have to decide for ourselves based on the situation.

Fang Ziye said, "Why does Professor Li Yongjun keep emphasizing that he is his assistant, while Dean Chen Song entrusted himself to Professor Dou Kaigong?"

Professor Dou Kaigong is a researcher in tumor-related fields, and Dean Chen Song is very knowledgeable about these matters...

No diamonds, no porcelain work.

Dean Chen Song's ambitions are so lofty, if he can't even arrange the procedures for such a meeting, how can he be expected to benchmark himself against Mayo?
It would be more practical to go down there sooner and fight with the foreign gods, taking some of the old guys with us...

"Ziye, you'd better be careful when you're in a meeting."

“I’m attending the conference in the vascular group, and we’ll be sitting together at the conference…” Li Yongjun didn’t know how to give Fang Ziye a heads-up.

"Okay, Teacher Li." Fang Ziye could only react to whatever came his way.

After Professor Li Yongjun left, Fang Ziye chatted with Luo Tingzhu and Liao Jia again!

Liao Jia was mainly reporting to Fang Ziye that the vascular models for synovial sarcoma and osteosarcoma had been established, and he and Nie Mingxian were already writing research reports on subsequent minimally invasive interventional surgeries.

I invited Fang Ziye to discuss this after the holiday.

Luo Tingzhu was mainly arranging for Fang Ziye to do something together, in order to make Fang Ziye happy, because she also noticed that Fang Ziye's expression and state were a little strange.

……

The next day, early in the morning, Fang Ziye was added to a work group.

Professor Zhang Limin was the one who pulled Fang Ziye in.

Meanwhile, after having breakfast with Professor Li Yongjun, Fang Ziye arrived at a large conference hall with hundreds of people, where some bigwigs, whose information was only vaguely described on Baidu, were responsible for providing information 'popular science'!
Fang Ziye only caught up with the speaker's pace after checking who it was.

Around 03, many pharmaceutical companies, such as Lunan Pharmaceutical and Huahai Pharmaceutical, turned their attention to the international market, and their exported products were mainly low-value-added products such as raw materials and intermediates.

"Huaguo Pharmaceutical thus entered the wave of globalization, but initially it was positioned at the low to mid end of the global pharmaceutical industry chain, lagging behind Europe, the United States and Japan in terms of capital markets, technological innovation, quality standards and brand awareness."

"In the low-to-mid-end manufacturing sector, China is gradually becoming a major global export base for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). According to data from the Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, in 2018, China's supply of chemical APIs accounted for 28% of the global total, while the United States accounted for only 10% and Europe (excluding Italy) accounted for only 8% during the same period."

"In the same year, the United States released a list of Chinese exports subject to proposed additional tariffs, which included tariffs of up to 25% on some specialty pharmaceutical raw materials, biological products, and preparations..."

"It really is still a matter of tariffs." Professor Li Yongjun handed Fang Ziye a piece of paper with this sentence written on it.

Fang Ziye had paid attention to similar issues before, but he never imagined that such issues would be related to him.

It's not appropriate to chat in this kind of meeting setting, so Fang Ziye also wrote: "It should not only affect the supply of raw materials, but also the blockade of key technologies, and the impact on tariffs and prices of goods exported to China."

Imposing tariffs on Chinese exports will reduce China's export trade. At the same time, imposing tariffs on imported drugs exported to China will make the drugs more expensive in China.

You don't have a replacement yet.

"That's how it is...sigh..." Professor Li Yongjun sighed.

Suddenly, without anyone noticing, Fang Ziye's ears perked up—

"Gleevec is an internationally recognized first-line treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia, which can effectively prolong the lives of patients. However, patients need to take it for a long time, one box (120 tablets, 100mg per tablet) per month."

According to relevant data, the price of Gleevec in mainland China is about 23000-25800 yuan per box, while the price in the United States is about 13600 yuan per box; and the price in Australia is about 10616 yuan per box.

"For tumors similar to leukemia, the main treatment method is targeted therapy. Bone marrow transplantation and chemotherapy are rarely chosen due to their huge side effects and high relapse rate. As for targeted therapy drugs, Gleevec is the most recognized targeted therapy drug by the academic community and patients because it was invented the earliest and has the most stable clinical efficacy."

"But the prices of imported drugs in mainland China, especially anti-tumor drugs, are far higher than those in the international market, some even more than ten times higher than the same products in the international market."

"But we must objectively recognize a difficulty!"

"Why are imported drugs, especially imported anti-tumor drugs, so expensive? Sun Zhongshi said the main reason is intellectual property rights. Developing a new drug requires at least several 'at least 10s': at least 10 years of time, at least $10 billion, and at least 10 failures."

"Since drug patents typically only have a 20-year protection period, manufacturers must make money quickly within this period to recoup their costs. They usually set the price of patented drugs very high, otherwise other manufacturers will immediately imitate them once the intellectual property protection period expires."

"We must have awareness of intellectual property protection!"

"Our own intellectual property rights will be protected when our products enter other countries; products from other countries with intellectual property protection are also willing to enter China. Therefore, we should understand the current national policies..."

"Similarly, we must also recognize, confront, and resolve the difficulties faced by patients and the people."

"Currently, like India, my country is also a major producer of generic drugs. However, the pharmaceutical industry is based on intellectual property rights, and the value of patented drugs far exceeds that of generic drugs. The vast majority of Chinese pharmaceutical companies are following in the footsteps of foreign companies, waiting for the patents of drugs to expire before mass-producing generic drugs. There are nearly 5000 pharmaceutical companies of all sizes in China, and generic drug companies account for more than 90% of them."

"my country's generic drug industry is large but not strong, lacking innovation capabilities. Furthermore, there are almost no generic versions of targeted drugs in the Chinese market, which means there is no competition and the prices of targeted drugs naturally cannot come down."

"Because the early approved generic drugs had relatively weak medical research foundations, the quality of some generic drugs was significantly different from that of the original drugs, and they could not yet achieve the clinical effects of the original drugs."

"To improve the quality of generic drugs, my country has issued the 'Work Plan for Consistency Evaluation of Generic Drug Quality (Draft for Comments),' which proposes to complete the consistency evaluation of some varieties in 2014, basically complete the consistency evaluation of all solid oral dosage forms by 2015, and carry out consistency evaluation of injectable drugs and other dosage forms from 2015 to 2020."

"..."

Too many to write!

The phrase "罄竹难书" (qìng zhú nán shū) is not only used to describe crimes, but can also be used to describe current predicaments and difficulties.

Fang Ziye gradually found himself only able to follow the speaker's train of thought. Currently, he only felt immense pressure and knew that the task ahead was arduous and the road ahead was long.

Lunch was eaten in the "unit's" canteen, which was free and the food was very good. You could take as much meat and vegetables as you wanted, but the taste was a little different from Fang Ziye's.

Fang Ziye sat opposite Li Yongjun and asked with some hesitation, "Professor Li, the level of surgical technology in China is actually very high, but we do more clinical procedures, which cannot be recognized as patents and are protected by patents."

"That's a huge loss!"

Li Yongjun asked seriously, "You're going to apply for a patent for this kind of clinical surgical procedure?"

"Then should our country's hospitals and surgical departments continue to operate?"

"These kinds of operational items belong to personal income, and there can be no patented alternatives, nor can they be permitted!"

"Therefore, if we want to develop our country's pharmaceutical industry, we must first invest money, and then make money, in order to form a virtuous cycle."

"The international market is a huge one, and every country has demand..."

"For example, the miniature circulation device you developed is a very good practical alternative to patents, and it can be converted into money."

"However, our country is still very conscientious. Abroad, the price is only increased by 30%, of which 15% is tariff and 5% is shipping cost."

"Exactly, patents like these? There are far too few of them."

Fang Ziye nodded, then asked, "Professor Li, since our country has also opened up the market for generic cancer drugs, why can't we manufacture generic versions?"

Generic drugs are products that are identical to brand-name drugs in dosage, safety, efficacy (regardless of how they are taken), quality, action, and indications. More than 150 patented drugs worldwide, with a total value exceeding $340 billion, will have their patent protection expire. After these expirations, other countries and pharmaceutical companies will be able to produce generic versions.

However, there are very few generic drugs in China, especially generic drugs for cancer, which are virtually non-existent.

"India benefits from relatively lenient patent regulations and compulsory licensing policies, enabling it to produce generic drugs in large quantities. In addition, India has a more complete generic drug industry chain, with good global marketing channels and industrial ecosystem. Our country, on the other hand, pays more attention to complying with international intellectual property rules, which to some extent restricts the development of China's generic drug industry."

"Actually, instead of producing generic drugs, it would be better to develop alternatives..."

"We have Gleevec, right? Our country is planning to take a different approach and create a drug with similar results to Gleevec."

"But as you know, generic drugs and alternatives are very difficult to produce and manufacture, and our country's current technology is also limited."

"I won't go into the differences in efficacy between some mature generic drugs and imported drugs." Li Yongjun is also a doctor, so he knows the difference in efficacy between the two.

It looks like it's been chewed by a dog.

"It's confirmed; you went to the oncology group."

“Your oncology group has a lot of experts here this time, including seven or eight academicians,” Li Yongjun changed the subject.

"That puts my mind at ease, and no one will deliberately target you anymore."

Fang Ziye also saw the list, which included many academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences specializing in oncology, such as Professor Ma Jun from Sun Yat-sen University, who conducts research on nasopharyngeal carcinoma; Academician Ding Jian, who focuses on the discovery of targeted molecules and the elucidation of new mechanisms of action in tumor pharmacology; and Academician Hao Xishan, who specializes in clinical oncology.

Renowned expert in molecular oncology, Academician Zhang Limin, and others…

"Let me tell you, the academicians' conference will be held again this year. I estimate that this time, the effects of this event will only become apparent then."

"If you were to look up the academician conference from three years ago, you would find some clues..." Professor Li Yongjun explained to Fang Ziye.

Fang Ziye had never really cared about it before; things of this level had always been far removed from his reach. But this time, however, they were extremely close.

……

In the afternoon, we had our group meeting. It wasn't a large conference hall, but a small one, the kind that can seat thirty or forty people.

Fang Ziye was the third to arrive, and his seat was the very last one in the last row.

After Fang Ziye arrived, he found his nameplate and sat down. He only chatted with Luo Tingzhu occasionally and did not take any photos or do anything else.

One by one, people arrived, but Fang Ziye really didn't recognize anyone.

None of the people from the bone tumor group that Fang Ziye was familiar with came.

The reason is simple: orthopedic oncology has always been a relatively weak oncology sub-discipline in the field of oncology. It couldn't even establish its own sub-discipline, so how could so many people come to this event?

The second meeting in the conference room started promptly at 2:30 pm.

At 1:40, Professor Zhang Limin walked in through the door. Quite a few people recognized him. Professor Zhang Limin spotted Fang Ziye at a glance, but he was still exchanging pleasantries with the people around him.

After a while of greetings, Fang Ziye finally got to know the academicians he had previously searched for in pictures.

Ma Jun, Hao Xishan, Ding Jian, Zhang Limin, Tang Jie, Bi Dong, Wei Yuquan, and other academicians...

Academician Zhang Limin is a newcomer, so he is very polite and cautious when facing these people.

He's just not too humble; he's modest and cautious.

It wasn't until 1:54 PM, just before the meeting was about to begin, that Zhang Limin managed to find a moment to go to the very back of the conference hall.

"Good afternoon, Xiao Fang," Zhang Limin said with a smile.

"Professor Zhang!" Fang Ziye stood up abruptly, no longer daring to be as casual as he was in Professor Zhang Limin's laboratory.

Perhaps life is a closed loop. Until a certain opportunity arises, you can't imagine just how amazing the people you know are.

The more than forty people present are all top experts. These academicians must have their reasons for standing out!

Fang Ziye did not rule out the possibility that some people might be 'undeserving of their reputation', but even those who are undeserving of their reputation must have some real skills, otherwise they would have been exposed long ago.

"Don't be nervous!" Zhang Limin patted Fang Ziye on the shoulder and didn't say anything more.

After Zhang Limin went to the front, the two middle-aged men sitting next to Fang Ziye noticed Fang Ziye's age.

"Xiao Zhang, you're so young! How old are you? Almost forty, right?" Only then did the thin man realize that Fang Ziye was so unusual.

"Thirty-six!~" Fang Ziye exaggerated his age by a full six years.

"What?" But to his surprise, the other party was still shocked, looking at Fang Ziye in astonishment and scanning him up and down.

He gave a thumbs up: "You're a force to be reckoned with! I thought it was just because you look young."

"Where does Xiao Fang work?" another person asked.

"Han City, Zhongnan Hospital," Fang Ziye answered truthfully.

"Oh, I know..." The person who asked the question had at least heard of Zhongnan Hospital, otherwise it would have been even more awkward.

Then the two started gossiping in hushed tones.

Following that, one after another, people walked in from outside. Fang Ziye didn't know their identities, but there was a nameplate for Xie Heng on the podium in front of him, which Fang Ziye paid more attention to.

The man was thin and quite tall, about 1.8 meters. His skin was relatively smooth for a man, and his hair was slightly gray, but he looked to be only a little over fifty years old.

In the crowd, someone called out to him, Xie Bu. (That character cannot be typed.)
At this age, even as a secondary infantryman, he's quite impressive.

He has a refined demeanor, and when moving through crowds, he is polite and friendly, and his personality is relatively amiable.

A little while later, Fang Ziye also saw Xie Shulan's current supervisor, Professor Liu Lizhi, the director of the State Key Laboratory of Cancer Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
Although she is a woman, she has achieved extremely high academic accomplishments, is a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and a specially appointed professor of the "Changjiang Scholars Program" of the Ministry of Education. She is a woman who is just as capable as any man...

Soon, the meeting began again.

Xie Heng was the first representative to speak, and he mainly gave a brief introduction of himself, saying that he was speaking on behalf of the National Health Commission.

Without much preamble, he spoke for about ten minutes before handing the microphone over to a leader from the Academy of Medical Sciences.

This leader is engaged in basic medical research and has a medical background. Although he is not an academician, he holds a high administrative position in the Academy of Medical Sciences.

After taking the microphone, he said, "I won't go on and on with any formalities. At present, the cost of cancer treatment in our country is huge, which has exceeded the scope that medical insurance can fully cover."

"At the same time, foreign countries' blockade of medicines against our country has exacerbated our country's medical expenditures and increased the medical-related burden on the people."

"The most influential event among them was the release of the film 'Dying to Survive'."

"This predicament was not caused by our own efforts, but we must face up to the awkward situation that China is currently in."

"I mainly want to mention these few points."

"The best long-term solution to the existing problems is to focus on research and development capabilities, develop new drugs, create new economic value, and create a market for original Chinese drugs."

"Secondly, we need to develop effective alternative and generic drugs and scale them up so that our medical expenses can be reduced to some extent and we can avoid being strangled by certain policies."

"In this respect, for some special reasons, we are slightly inferior to India."

"The third aspect is the treatment of tumors, finding new approaches. For example, chemotherapy and radiotherapy can address tumor treatment alone. We need to develop new understandings of clinical treatment plans for tumors and try to reduce the financial burden on patients as much as possible..."

"Fourthly, we also need to study how to commercialize patents and integrate them with clinical practice in a down-to-earth manner."

"The fifth aspect..."

After rambling on and on, this person only mentioned the important points before handing the microphone over to the main character.

That is, the third leader, he is responsible for assigning tasks.

"Those attending today are all very well-known experts, academicians, and researchers in the field of oncology in our country. In their respective fields, you are definitely more professional than us."

"Everyone has their own expertise. Given the current difficulties and challenges, we hope to pool our wisdom and efforts and share some of the responsibilities."

"For example, some experts have reached a consensus to choose a specific point and work together to overcome it..."

"I wonder if any experts would dare to nominate themselves?" He smiled broadly, which could be described as giving them plenty of face.

However, at a time like this, where would you find such a fool?
One person cannot change an industry, or even a discipline!

Now, everyone's attitude is, if you want to force me, then force me; if you want to add tasks, then add them. Anyway, I can't do it. At worst, I'll just die.

How can scientific research be bound by time limits?
How could they possibly sign a pledge?

If making solemn pledges were effective, China's medical research would have already taken off!

Seeing that everyone was silent and tired of the atmosphere, he said, "Experts, we really are not trying to make things difficult for you, but we hope that you can each use your strengths, even if it's just a small breakthrough."

"It's good to get things started first..."

Academician Ma Jun is considered a senior member of the team and has likely participated in many such meetings. He replied, "Director Xiang, pharmaceutical research and development is a long and continuous process of accumulation."

“Every team wants to make a breakthrough, and that’s what we do, but you can only make a breakthrough step by step.”

"Teams all over the world are constantly trying to break through the current situation, but they've just entered a period of platform closure..."

"This is a plateau period for the entire discipline and academia."

"Scientific research must be people-oriented and cannot be done haphazardly. We can only do the preliminary work well first, and take our time to do a good job. Sharpening the axe will not delay the work of chopping wood."

"This is also a process of accumulating knowledge and experience. You must first make a clear diagnosis and understand the mechanism of tumor development in order to find the right targeted therapy drugs."

"Instead of creating something out of thin air..."

After Academician Ma Jun finished speaking, Xie Heng took over the conversation: "How about this, professors and experts, let's each talk individually about the directions we're currently considering, the difficulties they each face, and see if we can find solutions for each one, okay?"

This is where the more technical stuff gets.

Academician Ma Jun and others delivered speeches one by one.

There is insufficient understanding of tumor mechanisms, unclear drug options for targeted therapy, and a lack of in-depth understanding of the direction of the disease.

Even Fang Ziye was asked to speak.

Fang Ziye also stood up like the others: "Distinguished leaders and experts, our current understanding of the mechanisms of tumors is still at a relatively superficial level."

"Established treatment plans have many limitations. These limitations lead to inaccuracy of chemotherapy drugs, serious side effects, and incomplete chemotherapy."

"This increases the risk of tumor recurrence and metastasis."

"To solve such problems, we must first understand, research, and thoroughly grasp the fundamental mechanisms of tumors in order to be effective."

"This is my opinion," Fang Ziye said, offering only a summary without explicitly stating his own opinion.

However, after Fang Ziye sat down, Xie Heng waved his hand and said, "Um, Professor Fang, could you stand up again and tell us about your profession and the research on treatment options for tumors related to your profession?"

"Let's see if this can offer any insights to other experts!"

"Here, I would like to give a special introduction to Professor Fang. Professor Fang is a professor in the Department of Orthopedics at Zhongnan Hospital, and he also engages in the treatment and research of orthopedic tumors."

"Moreover, Professor Fang has found a new approach, a new method, and a new solution for orthopedic tumors, which I hope can provide some inspiration to the experts."

"We have already obtained evidence for this research topic, and we have probably consulted with some of the experts present here..."

Xie Heng's words were like a nuclear bomb dropped into the ocean, immediately causing a huge uproar.

Many people turned their gazes over there.

Professor Zhang Limin was immediately shocked and said, "That new chemotherapy system for orthopedics, could it be the solution proposed and developed by this Professor Fang?"

"He proposed cutting off the human circulatory system, so that the dosage of chemotherapy for orthopedic tumors could be redefined?"

Professor Zhang Limin himself specializes in oncology, so he knows just how novel and effective Fang Ziye's proposed plan is.

This could revolutionize cancer treatment!

However, orthopedics involves a relatively special anatomical structure, and it is not suitable for tumors in other specialties besides orthopedics.

For example, with the liver, you can't assume that a liver tumor can be completely removed.

Xie Heng did not answer Zhang Limin's question, but said, "Let's first listen to Professor Fang's insights on the treatment of orthopedic tumors. Hopefully, it can provide some new ideas for the other experts and professors."

Fang Ziye was surrounded and provoked by Xie Heng.

The current situation is beyond his preparation and foresight, so Fang Ziye is at a loss as to how to handle it.

However, facing the various gazes of the crowd, even if Fang Ziye didn't want to speak, he could only remain awkward for a while before slowly opening his mouth.

"Currently, the tumor treatments that our research group is developing are only in the animal testing stage and have not been applied in clinical practice."

"Therefore, some of the ideas I have put forward may not be very mature, and I dare not presume to teach them. So they only represent my personal opinion, and I hope that the professors and experts will correct them..." Fang Ziye spoke calmly, but in reality he was panicking.

This isn't a specialist conference, nor is it a professional academic conference. The nature of this kind of conference...

(End of this chapter)