Gihwan picked up Taeho’s words.
“Then there are two things we need to make. A spike protein inhibitor and a polymerase inhibitor.”
“What about the existing remdesivir?”
Jeong Minsu asked.
“It won’t be effective. The binding site has changed because of mutation 543. We need a new inhibitor.”
Gihwan drew a molecular structure on the whiteboard.
“I think we can synthesize it with this structure. It’s a modified form of remdesivir, but I designed it to bind specifically to threonine 543.”
Jeong Minsu and Sophie nodded in admiration.
To come up with an alternative this quickly...
Needless to say, Director Kang Taeho’s abilities were outstanding, but Deputy Director Seong Gihwan was also a genius not to be underestimated. If Director Kang Taeho was the type to charge aggressively toward a goal, Deputy Director Seong Gihwan was, one might say, the type to support him thoroughly from behind. No one could deny that the synergy created by these two geniuses had brought about the rapid development of Geumsan Research Institute.
After rummaging through the reagent cabinet, Gihwan reported.
“Director, we have most of the reagents needed for the synthesis, but we’re missing exactly two.”
“What are they?”
“Triphenylphosphine and DIPEA.”
When Taeho made the request to Professor David, the professor said,
“I’ll ask the hospital’s pharmaceutical purchasing department. I’ll put it through as an urgent order so it arrives as quickly as possible.”
“How long will it take?”
“If it’s fast, tomorrow morning. If it’s late, tomorrow afternoon.”
“That’s too late.”
Taeho shook his head.
David looked troubled.
“The hospital purchasing system has a complicated approval process. Department head approval, budget confirmation, placing the order—it takes several hours, and the drug delivery itself takes at least six hours.”
“The number of patients is increasing rapidly. We need to start right now.”
Taeho shook his head.
If this were Korea, he could have sent a staff member right away to pick up the reagents...
Just then, Sophie, who had been listening from behind, cut in.
“Wait a moment. Columbia University’s chemistry department is twenty minutes from here.”
“Columbia University?”
David asked.
“Yes. I studied there during my master’s. My advisor is still there. Should I contact her?”
“It’s seven in the morning right now. Will she be there?”
Taeho looked at his watch.
“Researchers don’t have day or night.”
Sophie smiled and took out her phone.
“The professor used to come to work at six every morning. She’s probably in the lab around now.”
“Good. Let’s contact her.”
Taeho nodded.
David said with an apologetic expression,
“I’m sorry. The hospital system is too slow...”
“That’s how hospital purchasing always is.”
Taeho waved it off.
Five minutes later, Sophie ended the call and returned. Judging by the smile spreading across her face, it seemed to be good news.
Everyone watched Sophie’s mouth.
“We secured them!”
“Really? That’s great news.”
Gihwan was the happiest as he welcomed the news.
“Yes. The professor says she has both reagents in her lab. She’ll bring them within thirty minutes.”
“The professor is coming in person?”
“Yes. I explained the situation, and she said she’d leave right away. That’s just how she is. She’ll help with anything if one of her students asks.”
Taeho patted Sophie on the shoulder.
“Well done, Sophie. Thanks to you, we saved time.”
“I’m glad.”
Sophie smiled shyly.
Jeong Minsu typed on his laptop and said,
“I’ve completed the synthesis protocol. Six steps in total, estimated time required: eight hours.”
Taeho looked at his watch.
It was currently seven in the morning. Eight hours meant three in the afternoon.
“That’s too long. Can we cut it down to six hours?”
“It’s possible if we run it under extreme conditions, but the probability of failure will increase.”
“If it fails, we can do it again. Time is more important.”
Jeong Minsu thought for a while, then nodded.
“Understood. Let’s go with six hours.”
7:30 a.m.
A professor from Columbia University’s chemistry department personally brought the reagents. Carol was a female professor in her mid-sixties.
“Sophie!”
“Professor Carol!”
The two embraced.
“How long has it been? Three years?”
“Four years, Professor.”
Professor Carol looked at Taeho.
“So this is Dr. Kang from Korea?”
“I’m Dr. Kang Taeho.”
Taeho shook her hand.
“Thank you for your help, Professor.”
“How could I not help when Sophie asked? Besides, I hear you’re saving New York.”
The professor took two reagent bottles out of her bag.
“Triphenylphosphine, one hundred grams, and DIPEA, two hundred milliliters. If it’s not enough, I’ll bring more.”
“This is enough.”
Gihwan accepted them.
“We can definitely complete the synthesis with this.”
Professor Carol looked around the laboratory.
“You’re synthesizing a new drug here? With this old equipment?”
It seemed to come as quite a shock to Professor Carol.
“We have to do our best wherever we can.”
Taeho answered calmly.
The professor looked at Taeho for a long time, then nodded.
“If you need anything else, contact me anytime. You can use the equipment in my lab too.”
“Thank you.”
As soon as Professor Carol left, Gihwan rolled up his sleeves.
“Let’s begin.”
With precise movements, Gihwan added the reagents into the reaction flask one by one. Measuring down to units of 0.01 grams, he did not allow even the smallest mistake. When it came to concentration while working, Gihwan was second to none.
“Triphenylphosphine, 2.5 grams. DIPEA, 1.8 milliliters.”
Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. The fatigue from not having slept a wink all night was clearly visible beneath his eyes, but his hands did not tremble in the slightest.
Jeong Minsu operated the heating mantle.
“I’ll set the temperature. Eighty degrees.”
He kept checking the thermometer and making minute adjustments. Even a difference of 0.5 degrees could affect the yield.
“Step one, acylation reaction. Reaction time: forty minutes.”
Sophie started the stopwatch. She sat in front of the laptop and recorded the reaction’s progress in real time.
“Start at 8:07. Expected completion at 8:47.”
As the heating mantle warmed up, the solution inside the flask began to boil. The once-transparent solution gradually turned yellow.
Taeho watched the reaction from the side. On the surface, he looked ordinary, but with Bio Vision, he was observing changes at the molecular level in real time.
“The carboxyl group is being converted into an ester. Good. It’s going smoothly.”
Forty minutes later, the alarm announcing the completion of step one rang. Gihwan quickly placed the flask in ice water.
“Starting cooling!”
As he grabbed and moved the hot flask, his hand was lightly burned.
“Ah!”
“Gihwan! Are you all right?”
Sophie approached him.
“I’m fine. Keep going.”
Gihwan waved his hand and focused on the work again.
Five minutes later, the solution had cooled. Gihwan extracted a sample and analyzed it.
“Step one complete. Yield: 89%!”
“Eighty-nine percent?”
Jeong Minsu was surprised.
“The expected yield was 85%. That’s high.”
“It’s because we optimized the conditions. And Gihwan’s hands are incredibly precise.”
When Taeho gave him the credit, Gihwan smiled shyly.
“No. We all did it together.”
Jeong Minsu slowly added sodium borohydride. Foam rose violently.
“Careful! If you add it too quickly, the reaction will become explosive!”
Taeho warned him.
“I know!”
Jeong Minsu’s hand trembled. The fatigue from being awake for over thirty hours came rushing in. But he gritted his teeth and concentrated.
One drop at a time. Slowly. Precisely.
His arm stiffened and ached as he continued the addition process for ten minutes, but Jeong Minsu clenched his teeth and maintained a steady pace.
“Addition complete.”
As he set down the reagent bottle and massaged his arm, Sophie handed him a bottle of water.
“Drink. If you get dehydrated, your hands will shake.”
“Thanks.”
Jeong Minsu gulped down the water. Only then did he realize that he had been thirsty.
The laboratory was filled with heat and the smell of chemicals. The ventilation system was running, but the temperature inside had risen.
Sophie wiped the sweat from her forehead. The inside of her protective suit was soaked with sweat.
“Whew. It’s hot.”
She turned on another ventilator.
“The progress rate is fine. If we stay on schedule, it should be finished around 1:30 p.m.”
Gihwan muttered as he prepared the next reagent.
Jeong Minsu analyzed the intermediate product.
“Structure confirmed. It’s being synthesized exactly as designed.”
When he enlarged the screen and showed the molecular structure, everyone gathered around to check.
“Perfect. Now we have to do the most difficult coupling reaction.”
Taeho nodded.
Sophie said worriedly,
“If we don’t succeed in one try, we’ll have to start over from the beginning.”
“We’ll succeed.”
Taeho said with confidence.
Gihwan took a deep breath and lifted the reagent.
“I’m starting.”
At one in the afternoon, Gihwan carefully added TFA in the final, sixth step.
Thirty minutes later, the number 97.3% purity appeared on the HPLC screen, and cheers erupted in the laboratory. It was the moment an antiviral drug exclusively for New York was born.
Taeho accepted the glass vial. Pure white crystals gleamed within it.
“New York Virus-001. NYV-001.”
Taeho gave it its name.
When he looked at the three of them, they were in a terrible state. They were drenched in sweat, worn down by fatigue, and looked as if they might collapse at any moment.
But the light in all their eyes was alive.
***
Professor David’s office.
Taeho placed the glass vial on the desk.
“This is...”
David asked with an expression of disbelief.
“You synthesized a new drug in ten hours?”
“Yes. It’s an antiviral specialized for the New York virus.”
Taeho handed over the documents.
“The synthesis process, molecular structure, mechanism of action, expected efficacy, and side effect profile are all here.”
David clicked his tongue in astonishment.
This was possible in ten hours?
Were they insane?
He flipped through the documents Taeho had handed him and read them. Whether he read them front to back or back to front, everything was perfect on paper. Except...
“There’s no FDA approval or clinical trial...”
“Patients are dying within twenty-four hours. If we wait for FDA approval, all of New York will collapse.”
“But...”
“Professor, do you remember during COVID in 2020? Remdesivir was used under emergency use authorization. This is the same. This is our only hope.”
David was silent for a long time. Through the window, the emergency room was visible. Another ambulance was arriving. In the span of ten hours, the number of patients had already exceeded one hundred.
As if making up his mind, he nodded.
“...Understood. We’ll get patient consent and start with the patients who agree. I’ll call in all hospital medical staff for an emergency mobilization.”
David nodded.
***
The taxi stopped in an upscale residential district on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
“Is this the place?”
Jeong Minsu looked up at the building. An elegant stone structure soared as if piercing the sky.
Sophie muttered,
“But isn’t this one of the most expensive places in New York?”
Gihwan looked at his phone and said,
“I looked it up, and penthouses here apparently sell for over one hundred million dollars. They say billionaires like the Rockefellers and the Koch brothers live here.”
“Huh? Director, is this really the right place?”
Jeong Minsu looked at Taeho.
Taeho checked the key Katherine had given him and tilted his head.
“It is 740 Park Avenue.”
“Wow...”
Sophie’s mouth fell open.
“This was the small apartment Assemblywoman Katherine gave you as a wedding gift?”
Taeho had only received the key and had never actually come here before, so he was unsure himself.
When they stood in front of the entrance, the doorman opened the door for them. Upon seeing Taeho, he bowed politely.
“Welcome to 740 Park Avenue. Dr. Kang, we’ve been expecting you. Senator Tisch informed us of your arrival.”
“Thank you.”
The lobby was decorated with marble and brass. Chandeliers glittered, and a massive oil painting hung on one wall.
“Somehow, this seems more luxurious than a hotel lobby.”
When Gihwan whispered, Jeong Minsu and Sophie nodded vigorously.
A concierge approached.
“Dr. Kang, if you and your party leave all your luggage here, we will send it up shortly. The penthouse is ready. Please use the penthouse’s private elevator.”
He pointed to the elevator.
“A private elevator?”
Jeong Minsu turned his head in surprise.
There were no ordinary buttons on the elevator door, only a keyhole set by itself.
When Taeho inserted the key, the door opened.
The door closed, and the elevator began to rise.
Sophie looked at herself reflected in the mirror. From working all night, the skin under her eyes was dark, and her hair was disheveled.
“Are we allowed to enter a place like this looking like this?”
“We do look like zombies.”
Gihwan chuckled as he looked in the mirror.
Jeong Minsu laughed along.
“Now that I think about it, Director, you look fine. It seems like only we’re wrecked.”
“I’m tired too. Let’s go in and get some rest.”
Taeho smiled.
The elevator stopped on the top floor.
When the doors opened, all four of them gasped at the same time.
“Wow...”
“My God!”