Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 544 Galactic Life Blossoms and Bears Fruit: ARE78
In a building on the outskirts of a small coastal city in Africa, a metal sign hangs at the main entrance: East African Pharmaceutical Company.

The entire building was surrounded by electrified barbed wire, and inside, there were many vehicles carrying weapons parked on the open ground. On one side of the large open ground, there was also a helicopter.

Heavy machine guns can be clearly seen from the rooftops on the outer perimeter, and they are pointed towards the vast wasteland outside the wall!

Among a cluster of low-rise buildings stands a slightly taller office building, whose modern interior design seems out of place in this backward, war-torn region.

Enter the building and then arrive at an elevator!
But this elevator isn't going up, it's going down!

After descending into the underground space via the elevator, the elevator doors open, revealing a sign with Chinese characters and English: Eighth Research Institute!

This place is the Eighth Research Institute under Galaxy Life!

As for the numerous East African pharmaceutical buildings on the ground, they were just a cover!

Inside the Eighth Research Institute, Director Fang Linde was reporting to the middle-aged man in front of him: "Committee Member Qian, our ARE78 project has completed its third improvement. We have made targeted improvements to address many of the problems that were exposed before, especially some obvious side effects of the medication. The new generation of ARE78 project, after adjustments and improvements, can now avoid the side effects that occurred before!"

"The series of side effects after stopping the medication have also been significantly reduced. For example, the rapid aging reaction after stopping the medication has been controlled within a certain range. Even though the physical functions of the experimental subjects may fluctuate after stopping the medication, the aging level is only about 15% higher than that of normal age. We believe that this range is controllable!"

"Furthermore, the probability of developing cardiovascular disease after stopping medication has decreased from 85% to 35%, and the symptoms of cardiovascular disease that do occur are mild and within a controllable range. Even with conventional drugs available on the market, they can be controlled and treated subsequently!"

"Although the ARE78 project does have some side effects, especially the side effects after stopping the medication, they are relatively more pronounced. However, compared with the anti-aging and physical function recovery effects brought about by the ARE78 project, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks!"

"The third-generation ARE78 project, after multiple improvements, has been basically confirmed in clinical trials to restore the physical functions of people in the sixty-year-old age group to those between forty and fifty years old. The specific results may vary depending on the individual, but they can generally be maintained at the level of those between forty and fifty years old."

"In the 70-year-old age group, physical functions can recover to those of a 50- to 55-year-old!"

"In the 80-year-old age group, physical functions can recover to those of a 60- to 65-year-old!"

"This recovery of bodily functions includes metabolic level, nutrient absorption capacity, muscle strength, bone strength, etc., and the age group data uses the average level of normal people."

"Our animal and cell experiments have largely confirmed that if long-term, stable medication can be maintained, the body's functional level will remain about ten to twenty years younger than the actual age. The specifics depend on the age and health of the person taking the medication!"

"At the same time, we found that as physical functions become younger and metabolism recovers, those taking the medication also regain better immunity and are more resistant to various diseases!"

"A 60-year-old's body has an advantage over an 80-year-old's body in fighting off common cold viruses; the body has stronger resistance and better recovery ability!"

"Therefore, our ARE78 program not only has the effect of anti-aging and restoring a relatively youthful body, but also has the added benefit of boosting immunity and increasing the ability to resist various diseases!"

"If there is any major drawback, it is that the production cost of our ARE78 drug is very high. It requires the preparation of a corresponding drug based on the genes and physical condition of each person taking the drug. This process also requires the use of large-scale computing arrays and our specially developed data algorithms to adjust the proportions of the drug's components!"

"Each person using ARE78 is unique!"

"And ideally, the patient's physical data should be collected again every year and then readjusted."

"Because this is a gene-based biological drug, its material costs are also very high. We use materials and preparation processes that we have specially developed!"

"This also brings high manufacturing costs. We have estimated that, without considering the initial R&D investment, the manufacturing cost of the drug alone is about $500,000 per person per year, and this cost will not be reduced much by large-scale manufacturing!"

"Because each person's drug preparation is individual, and the preparation process is carried out in a specialized laboratory, large-scale mass production is not yet possible!"

"Moreover, the cost of computing power is also very high. The computing power cost of our Galaxy Pharmaceutical's computing center is not low!"

Galaxy Life's drug development model utilizes artificial intelligence on a large scale. The underlying algorithms were actually developed by the AI ​​Research Institute of Zhiyun Group and then transferred to them.

Then Galaxy Life uses its four main publicly known pharmaceutical companies—Huaxia Galaxy Pharmaceutical, European Eastern Pharmaceutical, US-based Croda Biotechnology, and Indian-based Andar Pharmaceutical—to collect a large amount of pharmaceutical data and conduct training based on this data.

Finally, a big data model for scientific research and development in the field of biomedicine was developed, or in other words, artificial intelligence.

Such scientific research big data models have a huge demand for computing power, which cannot be handled by ordinary servers. Galaxy Life, through its subsidiary Galaxy Pharmaceutical, funded the construction of computing centers and purchased a large number of GT series computing servers from Zhiyun Cloud Computing Technology to build several ultra-large computing centers!

This computing power is extremely expensive!
The high cost of materials and computing power prevents mass production and can only be produced in one-to-one laboratory settings, which ultimately leads to the high preparation cost of the ARE78 drug!
And this doesn't even include the enormous R&D costs of the ARE78 project...

Project ARE78, as Galaxy Life's most valued core project, has been under development for many years, with Galaxy Life having spent more than five billion US dollars on its research and development.

Basically, a significant portion of the funds raised by Galaxy Life during its early and mid-stages, from various consortia, were used for this project.

In the later stages, especially with the successful launch of Galaxy Pharmaceutical's broad-spectrum anti-cancer drugs and the substantial profits earned, it can also provide financial support to its parent company, Galaxy Life, to maintain the research and development of projects such as ARE78.

The ARE78 drug, with its high research and development and manufacturing costs, is very special... But even so, it is still the greatest achievement Galaxy Life has made in many years of drug research and development... including technological achievements.

Although Galaxy Life has a more technologically advanced broad-spectrum anticancer drug called Xelocta... In terms of technology, Xelocta is more advanced than ARE78.

The problem is that Galaxy Life still hasn't figured out the technical principles behind Xeloda, this miraculous drug... The engineers created it in a daze back then, but the researchers are still clueless about the principles behind it and why it can treat so many cancers!
It's somewhat similar to how ancient people smelted steel. Through some experiential patterns, they knew how to forge iron and produce steel. However, the ancients still didn't know the internal composition of steel, let alone the important role that carbon content played in it... They didn't even understand the basic elements, such as iron and carbon, nor did they know about oxidation reactions, etc.

Ancient craftsmen could forge some steel objects based on their experience, but we don't know why!
Xeloda is just that special. Galaxy Life's subsidiary, Galaxy Pharmaceuticals, can produce this drug, and they even have the molecular formula, but they can't figure out the technical principles behind it...

If you don't understand the principles, it's difficult to replicate or improve it... So, several years have passed, and the research and improvement of Xeloda within Galaxy Pharmaceuticals has remained at a very primitive stage!
The ARE78 drug is different. It is the result of years of continuous research and development and gradual improvement by the technical staff of Galaxy Life, and they know its technical principles.

Therefore, the ARE78 drug is actually the most powerful gene biopharmaceutical technology that Galaxy Life currently possesses... As for Xiluo Keda, that thing was purely an accident!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The director of the Eighth Research Institute continued, "Besides its high cost, another drawback of the ARE78 drug is that it cannot be stopped. Once the drug is stopped, many side effects will occur, including the body's functions gradually returning to the level of its original age within a few months, or even further deteriorating. In addition, it can lead to cardiovascular disease, liver and kidney diseases, and a significant decrease in the body's immune resistance!"

"Of course, after a period of treatment and recuperation, most of these side effects will gradually disappear, and it will take about two to three years to return to normal!"

"In other words, there will be a side effect period of about two to three years after stopping the medication, and then with treatment and recuperation, one can recover to the normal physical level that one should have at that age!"

As he listened, Committee Member Qian looked at the report in his hand: "Didn't your third-generation ARE78 project show any adverse side effects in the clinical trials? I remember that adverse side effects occurred in the first and second generation drugs."

The director of the Eighth Research Institute said, "Fortunately, our third-generation ARE78 drug has not experienced any adverse side effects. There were a few cases during the first phase of clinical trials, but after we improved and adjusted the dosage, no adverse side effects occurred in the second and third phases of clinical trials!"

"After all, our third-generation ARE78 drug has improved more than 100 problems that were previously exposed. When we used the artificial intelligence system of the computing center to explore the technical theory, we tried more than 50,000 technical routes. Finally, we selected twelve theoretically feasible technical routes to promote. Among these twelve technical routes, we selected the best of the best and determined the final third-generation ARE78 technical route!"

"We spent a lot of manpower and resources on this process!"

"This drug represents the highest level of gene-based biological drugs currently available on Earth, and it is not just one of the best, but far ahead of other gene-based biological drug technologies!"

After reviewing the report, Committee Member Qian said, "In that case, let's begin the fourth phase of clinical trials and use it extensively to determine its specific efficacy and adverse reactions!"

"I need further clinical trial data. After all, as you know, our ARE78 project's primary target group consists of our company's sponsors, most of whom are elderly and have underlying medical conditions. We need to be mindful of the risk-benefit relationship!"

As the director of the Eighth Research Institute, and also a senior technical officer in charge of the specific clinical trials and some research and development work of the ARE78 project, this person is already considered to be in the middle and senior management of the Galaxy Life System, and is well aware of the special nature of his own company!
The company's substantial funding, especially the tens of billions of dollars raised in its early stages, came from donations from the world's super-rich.

So whether the drug is effective or not is actually not a big deal... but safety must be guaranteed... we can't let a group of wealthy sponsors die from overfeeding!

After concluding his inspection of the Eighth Research Institute, Commissioner Qian returned to the South African headquarters with the top-secret experimental report and presented it to the company.

The news that the ARE78 project had completed the development of its third-generation drug and successfully completed the Phase III clinical trial was kept very secret... However, Galaxy Life has a large number of technical experts from all over the world, many of whom were recruited by super-rich individuals.

Although the top-secret technical information was kept very secret, the project itself was not actually a secret. Many influential funders knew more or less some basic information about the ARE78 project.

Within two days, Xu Shenxue received a call from the head of an American conglomerate. After exchanging a few pleasantries with Xu Shenxue, the person on the other end inquired about the progress of the ARE78 project.

Xu Shenxue didn't hide anything from them, but informed the other party of the progress of the ARE78 project, even mentioning some of the drug's effects and potential side effects. After confirming this with Xu Shenxue, the other party was very excited, asking when the Phase IV clinical trial would be completed, as he couldn't wait to get his hands on the ARE78 drug… After all, he was already a man in his seventies or eighties, and his physical functions had declined significantly; his need for an anti-aging drug that could 'rejuvenate' was urgent.

Even if this drug isn't a longevity drug and can't extend a person's lifespan, significantly improving bodily functions is still very important... When bodily functions decline drastically as people age, it can seriously affect their quality of life.

Xu Shenxue stated that the Phase IV clinical trial is estimated to take about another year, which is an optimistic estimate. If the situation is not optimistic, it may take even longer.

However, it was also stated that if a sponsor cannot wait and wants to take the medication earlier, that can be arranged... Of course, some potential unknown risks will have to be borne by the sponsor themselves.

Although the ARE78 project is quite mature and has successfully completed Phase III clinical trials, basically ensuring safety and efficacy, it is still only a Phase III clinical trial, and the scale of the trial is not large enough, so there is still a certain possibility that problems may occur.

For example, it is still unclear whether elderly people with pre-existing conditions will experience serious side effects after taking this medication, how to balance the dosage, and the potential risks of conflict with other drugs.

This is why it is necessary to continue with the Phase IV clinical trial.

The other party said they could wait a year or two!

About an hour after that call, Xu Shenxue received another call from a super-rich man. This man was even older, almost ninety years old, and his physical functions had declined very severely.

The man said on the phone that he had had enough of his current life, that he was out of breath after walking just a few steps, and that he had to rest in bed every few days. Now that the ARE78 drug had been confirmed to be effective, he wanted to use it now, and he would bear the potential risks himself.

Xu Shenxue did not refuse... Anyway, the ARE78 drug was right there, and this drug was developed specifically for these super-rich people... They paid for it back then, hundreds of millions of dollars.

Now that we've achieved results, we should naturally give them access to them.

Moreover, Xu Shenxue himself hopes that this drug can be successfully developed and have good effects, so that a large number of wealthy people can use it... This would mean that he would have another thing to hold them by the throat.

Even the ARE78 drug is more effective at controlling the bottleneck than APO and other computing chips!

While APO graphics cards and other computing chips have a significant impact... they have absolutely no effect on the lives of these super-rich individuals.

Being behind in the field of artificial intelligence does not prevent him from continuing to control a large amount of assets and remain a super-rich person!
However, the ARE78 drug is directly related to their physical health and their quality of life... which is even more important to these super-rich individuals.

Now that we're giving them ARE78... if conflicts arise in other areas later, the other party might consider having Xu Shenxue overturn the table and stop supplying them with ARE78!
Having enjoyed a youthful body and a better quality of life... who can tolerate being old and frail, panting for breath after just a few steps!

Once this concern is raised, one will be more cautious in making choices and will be more willing to make concessions!

Therefore, Xu Shenxue is very supportive of the ARE78 project and is happy to supply these super-rich people... even though many of these super-rich people are his business competitors!

After hanging up the phone, Xu Shenxue contacted Galaxy Life and asked them to reach out to the company's sponsors, inform them of the basic information about the ARE78 project, and also grant approval to anyone who wished to use the drug ahead of schedule.

At the same time, he instructed Galaxy Life to ensure the technical confidentiality of the ARE78 project and to absolutely prevent any leaks of technical information.

In response, the head of the technical committee of Galaxy Monk Life stated that the technical confidentiality of the ARE78 project was extremely thorough and exceptional!
Even if some conventional theoretical data were leaked, it wouldn't be a big problem... because the core technology of the ARE78 project, in addition to conventional things like materials and preparation processes, also includes specially developed big data synthesis algorithms.

It takes a lot of data and physical information from each person and a special big data synthesis algorithm to produce a personalized drug!
This core algorithm is not available at Galaxy Life Research Institute overseas; it is stored in the computing center under Galaxy Pharmaceutical in China. The underlying algorithm is also encrypted, and a temporary authorization code is required each time the algorithm is run.

Even if the other party obtains the algorithm, they cannot run it without the authorization code!

Even if the other party obtains all the technical data, they can still develop similar drugs by imitating this technical route. However, the core algorithm is something that cannot be copied. If they had that ability, they could surpass Zhiyun Group in the field of artificial intelligence, which is obviously impossible!

Even if they obtained the core algorithm, it wouldn't run without a temporary license code.

Therefore, theoretically speaking, this drug cannot be copied!

However, despite what the technical department said, Xu Shenxue still instructed Galaxy Security to... ensure the technical confidentiality of the ARE78 project and prevent any attempt to explore the project's secrets!
Sure enough, someone did try to steal classified information about Project ARE78, but Galaxy Security was not to be trifled with. They quickly launched corresponding operations across Africa and severely cracked down on this behavior.

In addition, Xu Shenxue also subtly hinted to the heads of several consortia that the ARE78 project was rather special, and they shouldn't bother with it; even if they were given the technical data, they wouldn't be able to copy it...

However, it's unknown how many people actually believe it.

Of course, these behind-the-scenes matters did not affect Galaxy Life's Phase IV clinical trial. In the Phase IV clinical trial, there were also seven or eight special clinical trial participants... These seven or eight people were all elders from the families of Galaxy Life's sponsors.

They all wanted to avoid living a life of old age and wanted to regain their youthful physical functions as soon as possible, so they were willing to become volunteers in the Phase IV clinical trial.

------

When the ARE78 project entered its fourth phase of clinical trials, Xu Shenxue also noticed another anti-aging drug being developed by Galaxy Life: HT197.

This drug is very different from ARE78... ARE78 is a personalized gene-based biological drug with excellent efficacy, capable of making a person's body functions ten or twenty years younger, but it also has certain side effects, especially the side effects of stopping the drug... However, the preparation cost is expensive, and it is a drug for specific individuals.

The HT197 project is a type of macromolecular biological immunotherapy that acts on the nervous system and does not require specialized algorithms to prepare a personalized drug based on each individual's genetic makeup.

However, the effects of HT197 are not very good. It does not have the effect of rejuvenating the human body. It can only effectively improve immune function, enhance human immunity, and improve resistance to common diseases.
It doesn't cure diseases or restore youth; it only enhances the body's immunity. However, its immune-boosting effect is quite high, much better than some immune-boosting drugs on the market. It can even be used to enhance immunity and then resist the invasion of everyday pathogens.

After several experiments and subsequent improvements, Galaxy Life basically confirmed that this drug had little potential... at least it was useless for Galaxy Life's core needs of 'restoring youth and extending lifespan'.

Galaxy Life isn't a company that makes immune drugs; they're focused on rejuvenating the human body, with the ultimate goal of extending human lifespan!
So after multiple rounds of research and testing, Galaxy Life was completely disappointed with the drug and prepared to transfer it to its subsidiary Galaxy Pharmaceutical for commercialization... at least to recoup some of the research and development costs!

Although selling immune-boosting drugs may not sound very sophisticated... there are tons of health products on the market that claim to boost immunity, but projects that are commercialized and can recoup some of their costs are extremely rare.

Most of Galaxy Life's drug development projects ultimately resulted in huge losses... because they were focused on anti-aging and lifespan extension research, and most of these projects were useless and were eventually abandoned.

It's already quite an achievement that they were able to produce an immunity-boosting drug to sell.

Although the group of eccentric scientists from Galactic Life weren't interested in Project HT197 and thought it was useless, Xu Shenxue did believe that it had a large potential commercial market.

After analysis, the technical department at Galaxy Pharmaceuticals also believed that the drug had great commercial potential.

Although it only has one effect: boosting immunity!
But this one effect alone is enough to make countless people buy it!
It can be used as a health supplement in daily life... because the drug, after multiple improvements, has no so-called side effects. In the clinical trials of Galaxy Life, volunteers could eat it like candy, eating a lot every day without any problems... Of course, eating more won't have any better effect.

Then there's HT197, which has a pretty good effect on boosting immunity. It can significantly improve a person's immune function, thereby reducing the possibility of contracting various diseases, especially infectious diseases.

If a family member catches a cold, taking an HT197 tablet can greatly reduce the risk of infection, or at least minimize the severity of the infection.

It's somewhat similar to a stronger version of Vitamin C or Vitamin D!
Of course, the effects of HT197 are much stronger than those of vitamin C and vitamin D!
Under these circumstances, after receiving detailed technical information about HT197, Galaxy Pharmaceutical officially announced that it had successfully developed a brand-new biological macromolecule immune-enhancing drug based on genetic engineering technology: a neuroimmune-enhancing biological agent.

And it will soon be the first in the country to launch its Phase I clinical trial!
Although Galaxy Life has actually mastered the HT197 drug and conducted various clinical trials, the clinical trials conducted by Galaxy Life, a company operating underground, cannot be made public. Moreover, the various processes of its clinical trials do not meet the drug approval requirements of major countries.

Therefore, this clinical trial needs to be repeated!
Galaxy Pharmaceuticals has developed a new drug, which is an immune-boosting drug, attracting a lot of attention... However, after learning that HT197 is just a conventional drug with no special effects, only used to enhance immunity, the attention has waned.

However, many people in China are paying close attention to this news... because people in China attach great importance to boosting immunity. Some existing immune-boosting drugs have little market abroad, but have a considerable market in China.

In clinical trials, doctors found that this product was quite effective for common colds... Although it does not treat colds, patients who used this neuro-immune-boosting biological agent recovered from their colds faster, and their symptoms were relieved significantly and quickly.

When getting a prescription, in addition to various cold medications, add one of these neuroimmune drugs; the effect is excellent!

This discovery surprised the doctors... Don't underestimate the common cold, it's the most frequent illness for most people.

If this neuroimmunological drug is so effective, then its potential impact is enormous!

(End of this chapter)