Rebirth 2014: I, the King of Criminal Investigation

Chapter 758 Skipping the Regular Steps
Yu Dazhang's reasoning was based on certain grounds.

He also kept abreast of the aftermath of the case involving the top-tier hospital.

Although all the perpetrators have been severely punished by law, the three families involved have also been wiped out.

only……

The extracted spinal cord stem cells have never been recovered.

Yes, the case at the top-tier hospital wasn't handled perfectly. Strictly speaking, the case would only be truly solved if the spinal cords of those children were found.

This is like a theft case where the criminal is brought to justice, but the stolen goods are not found. Such an outcome is obviously unsatisfactory.

The problem is, all the people involved in the case of the top-tier hospital have been apprehended, so there shouldn't be any other accomplices.

Is there any possibility...?

The extracted spinal cord had been used in some kind of drug trial, which is why it wasn't retrieved.
In this case alone, there are already signs of that.

When Yu Dazhang was handling the case involving the top-tier hospital, he heard someone say that real spinal cord stem cells are extracted from young children.

If it can be confirmed that these women were injected with spinal cord stem cells, then the source must be illegal.

Thinking about this now is a bit far-fetched, and Yu Dazhang quickly came back to his senses.

What was the purpose of injecting these women with the drugs?

Yu Dazhang asked carefully:

"Don't try to fool me with nonsense like 'improving physical fitness,' say something that makes sense to you."

He had to say this upfront.

Sitting opposite him was a gynecological expert who once held the title of chief physician. If Gu Dingwen had used her professional knowledge to her advantage, Yu Dazhang really wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.

Therefore, we need to nip his little schemes in the bud.

“I asked him, but he told me clearly that it was not something I should know.”

Gu Dingwen's expression was somewhat complicated, his eyes flickered, and he seemed to want to say something but hesitated.

"Say what you want to say." Yu Dazhang frowned.

"Even if it's just your guess, feel free to say it, and we will judge for ourselves."

He hadn't seen any sign of lying in Gu Dingwen's changing expression.

Nevertheless, an inexplicable intuition gradually rose in Da Zhang's heart.

He always felt that Gu Dingwen seemed to have discovered something, but this discovery seemed to remain just a guess, which was why he hesitated whether or not to say it.

"I do have some personal speculations."

Gu Dingwen thought for a moment and said:
"But I can't guarantee its accuracy, so I'm afraid that saying it might mislead you."

Seeing that Da Zhang did not react, he continued:

“They don’t just come to inject drugs; every now and then, they also come to draw blood from the women.”

His voice lowered slightly, as if emphasizing the importance of what followed:
“I’ve noticed that this cycle is between half a month and a month, which is two to four weeks.”

"And this cycle is precisely the time it takes for the human body to develop antibodies against the virus."

Gu Dingwen spoke faster, seemingly wanting to get his speculation out as soon as possible:

"Therefore, I suspect that the other party is using these women for drug testing. The blood is drawn to extract serum, which contains a large number of specific antibodies, also known as antiserum or immune serum."

"It's getting more and more complicated..." Yu Dazhang frowned as he listened.

He didn't quite understand why the other party was injecting these women with stem cells.

After all, spinal cord stem cells are very precious, and some people are even willing to take risks for them.

However, the other party used stem cells mixed with drugs, and that wasn't enough; they even used people as test subjects and then extracted serum from them.

This is going to be done in one go.

Although Yu Dazhang didn't understand medicine, he knew that experimental drugs couldn't be directly applied to humans. They should be repeatedly inoculated into appropriate healthy adult animals to stimulate an immune response.

There will be an observation period after that. Only if there are no problems during the observation period can we proceed to the next step.

For a new drug, preclinical research alone takes at least two to four years, and that's under the very circumstances.

When it comes to the clinical stage, it takes even longer.

Phase I clinical trials take approximately one year.

Phase II clinical trials, approximately two years.

Phase III clinical trials, approximately three years.

These are all under the condition that everything goes very smoothly. If any mistakes or unexpected situations occur in the middle, the time will be postponed indefinitely.

Isn't it much clearer now?

It takes at least eight to ten years for a new drug to go from research to final application in humans.

The other party clearly intended to skip the usual steps and directly apply the drug to the human body.

"Approximately how many people had their blood drawn by the other party?"

When Yu Dazhang asked this question, he felt a sudden tightness in his heart.

He finds it hard to accept this behavior of treating people as tools, especially in today's society, where such heinous things should not happen.

In his view, this behavior was challenging the police's bottom line.

“Starting from November of last year…”

Gu Dingwen muttered to himself, tapping incessantly on the interrogation chair's backrest with one hand, and bending a finger with his other hand every time he tapped a certain number.

He seemed to be counting people in this way.

"The exact number is definitely impossible to calculate, as it's April now, which is quite a long time ago."

Gu Dingwen stopped what he was doing, looked up at the person opposite him:

"The approximate number is definitely in the tens, but it's close to a hundred."

Even though Yu Dazhang was mentally prepared, he was still shocked by this number.

It's only been less than half a year, and it's already reached this number. If this continues, who knows how many more people will be used as guinea pigs by the other side.

It is now confirmed that the person Gu Dingwen referred to as "the boss" was using these female victims for drug experiments.

Even so, I still don't know what the other party's purpose is.

If this is for testing new drugs, this method is obviously illegal, and even if the test is successful, the drug cannot be marketed.

Because every drug must go through a series of legal procedures, each of which must be carried out under supervision and be verifiable.

Besides, what kind of medicine can use spinal cord stem cells?

That's way too expensive.

If this drug were to be priced, it would probably start at least in the millions.

Isn't this price outrageous?

It's not an exaggeration.

When technology is mature overseas, the cost of a single stem cell treatment starts at 50 US dollars; you can convert it yourself.

This is still the price of autologous stem cells. Spinal cord stem cells are priceless in any country, mainly because no one can clearly explain their origin.

Even if such a drug were developed, how many people could afford to use it?
It's estimated that only billionaires can afford it; those with tens of millions in assets can only watch helplessly.

Just as Yu Dazhang was pondering the other party's purpose in testing the drug, Gu Dingwen suddenly asked:
"Um...am I going to die?"

(End of this chapter)