Chapter 545: In the Face of Money, Morals Are Nothing

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“This request might be a little too much,” Zhao Wen said.

What capitalists cared about the most was profit. If the profit did not exceed 50% in Huaxia, they would not earn much.

“Don’t be in a hurry to reject me. You can write down my conditions and convey them to your respective company’ bosses so that they can decide on this matter.”

In Huaxia, the profits of some ordinary medicines could not exceed 15% of the cost.

However, the current situation could not follow such a process.

If he really dared to suggest keeping within 15% of the margin, Zhao Wen and the others would probably stop negotiating with him on the spot.

This was because pharmaceuticals was a profitable industry. 1,000% profit was very common overseas.

Therefore, it was still acceptable for the price to be set at 50% of the cost in Huaxia.

Zhao Wen paused and looked at Lin Yi.

“When you say no more than 50% of the cost, do you mean the cost of raw materials?”

“Of course not.” Lin Yi found it funny. For Zhao Wen to say such a thing, it showed that she must have been scared of him.

“Capitalists are also humans. They have to earn money.” Lin Yi said.

“The cost I’m talking about also includes research and development, time, and transportation costs. In short, the final price must not be more than 50% of the total cost.”

Everyone’s expressions improved slightly. Although such conditions were still very harsh, at least there was some room for negotiation.

“What’s the other condition?” Zhao Wen asked.

“Pfizer and the six major pharmaceutical companies have a pivotal position in the world. I hope you can help me achieve something.”

Zhao Wen looked at Lin Yi. This was the first time she saw a gentle gaze in this man’s eyes.

It was also the first time she saw him talk to these people in a somewhat equal tone.

“Mr. Lin, please speak.”

“I hope that you can work with other pharmaceutical companies in the world to reduce the price of some medicine for rare illnesses to two-thirds of the original price. You can keep this exclusive to Huaxia if you want.”

“Reduce the price of medicines for rare diseases?”

Everyone present was surprised. They didn’t expect Lin Yi to make such a request.

This was because none of these requirements could bring him practical benefits.

To put it bluntly, this condition only benefitted others.

Why did he request this?

At this moment, Lin Yi was also nervous.

From a certain perspective, his request was indeed a little too much.

This was because the pharmaceutical companies had spent an unimaginable amount of time, energy, and money to study these medicines.

It was understandable if they didn’t agree.

Nosinogen Sodium, which cost 700,000 yuan per tube, would still cost nearly 470,000 yuan per tube even if it was reduced by a third.

For some families, this was still an unaffordable number.

However, in the current situation, every single cent mattered to them.

This was all Lin Yi could do.

“Mr. Lin, can you provide us with a specific name for the rare disease medicine you’re referring to so that we can further reference it?” Zhao Wen asked.

“For example, Nosinogen, Zolgensma, Glycerol phenylbutyrate, Carboglutamic Acid Tablets, and so on. I hope the price of these medicines can be reduced to two-thirds of the original figure.” Lin Yi said.

“That’s all I ask.”

“In truth, the first two requirements are still negotiable, but the third condition is really very difficult.” Zhao Wen shook her head and said.

“Because there are dozens of these medicines, and they are distributed by dozens of companies, this is not something we alone can decide on. We can’t promise you this. I hope you can understand the difficulties of this reuqest.”

“I know it’s difficult, but contact as many as you can.” Lin Yi said.

“Of course, I won’t make you work for nothing. When we develop any new drugs, I won’t take anything. You don’t have to pay me any fees. All the profits from these new drugs will be split equally between the seven pharmaceutical companies.”

Lin Yi’s words made everyone present understand that he didn’t intend to earn any money on this matter.

He really just wanted to do something good.

“We’re only here today to negotiate and flesh out the details. We’ll report this to headquarters later. As for whether we can agree to your request, I cannot guarantee anything.”

“You know my temper. These are my three most basic requirements. If one of them can’t be fulfilled, there’ll be no room for negotiation on this matter.”

“I understand.”

Lin Yi stood up and spoke to everyone present,

“I’ve said everything I need to say. You guys can discuss the rest internally. I’ll get w.a.n.g Tianlong to set up a table later. If you have any requests, just tell him.”

Zhao Wen looked at Lin Yi. “You know the owner of this hotel?”

“I’m the owner of this hotel.”

“I see.”

Lin Yi stood up and walked to the door, but the moment he opened the door, he turned around and said,

“If you agree to my request, you’ll be my partners. You can stay in the presidential suite of the Peninsula Hotel and eat whatever you want. It’ll be on me, but if you don’t agree, you’ll have to pay for it yourself.”

Everyone, “???”

Lin Yi left the meeting room, but Zhao Wen and the others didn’t. The atmosphere was a little heavy.

“His conditions have been stated. Everyone, please express your opinions on this matter,” Zhao Wen said.

“With Zhonghai’s international status, it’s not a big problem for us to set up the research inst.i.tute here. Moreover, it can radiate throughout all of Terra and save us a lot in transportation costs, so this request is still reasonable. The headquarters should agree,” Frey said.

“Although the second request is very excessive, there is actually room for negotiation.”

“That’s because it covers the cost of time and research and development. It’s a one-time investment. The Huaxia market can almost cover all the costs through the later sales funnel. If we sell these medicines to the world according to our usual pricing, the profits will still be considerable. Therefore, it won’t be much of a problem. The only difficult point is the third condition.”

After hearing Frey’s words, the others nodded silently.

It was the nature of merchants to chase after money. As long as there was profit, everything was negotiable.

However, all the problems were focused on the third point.

Even if they wanted to agree, they themselves were powerless.

The representatives of the six major pharmaceutical companies focused their attention on Zhao Wen. She was the representative of Pfizer, so her words and opinions would carry a certain weight.

After a minute of silence, Zhao Wen sighed and revealed a helpless smile.

“Lin Yi is really bold and smart.”

Everyone looked puzzled, not knowing what Zhao Wen meant.

“He’s betting on the ambitions of capitalists,” Zhao Wen said.

“The people here represent the seven pharmaceutical giants in the world. A small portion of the special medicine that he mentioned just now is produced by our companies alone. It’s not a big problem for us to drop the price to two-thirds of the original number, but there are still a lot of drugs produced by other pharmaceutical companies.”

“He wants us to pressure the other small factories for our own benefit. He wants us to leverage our influence to force them to sign a price reduction agreement.”

“But this is completely immoral. If he does this, he will push this cooperation to a dead end!”

“Morals are nothing in the face of money.”

Zhao Wen looked at Wei Kang with a calm expression.

“Think back to the initial stages of globalization, to the reduction of tariff policies, to the later intellectual property system, to the knowledge-sharing licensing agreement and the petrodollars system. When did Meiguo ever try to reason with you? When did they ever talk to you about ethics?”