“I thank all of you doctors for taking your valuable time for my son. Taking the various circumstances into account, we will begin my son’s treatment as quickly as possible.”
The video conference ended with Director Lee Junbeom’s summary.
Lee Junho, who had been quietly watching from a corner until then, approached Taeho.
“Hyung. You really were an amazing person. All of those people are incredible, and yet… I never expected that kind of reaction.”
“That’s not what’s important.”
Taeho placed a hand on Lee Junho’s shoulder as the young man looked at him.
“What’s truly important is that, from now on, you receive your treatment properly.”
A diagnosis merely meant they had now reached the starting line.
SSPE was an intractable disease that remained difficult to treat even with modern medicine.
The road Lee Junho would have to overcome from here on was far too harsh.
Lee Junho pressed his lips tightly together. Tears slowly welled in his eyes.
“Yes. Taeho hyung. Thank you.”
Taeho patted Lee Junho on the shoulder and said,
“Book a plane ticket right now and go back to New York.”
“But if you treat me here, hyung…”
Taeho shook his head.
Mount Sinai was a place equipped with world-class medical personnel and facilities.
Compared to what Geumsan Clinic could do right now, there were far more varied and novel treatments they could attempt there. Now that the disease had been identified, starting treatment even a day sooner was the best choice.
If it were anyone else, perhaps not—but with his father being the head of neurosurgery at Mount Sinai, there was no reason not to return.
Following Taeho’s advice, Lee Junho ended his short trip to Korea and returned to New York.
That evening, Rema presented the reward.
-Kang Taeho successfully persuaded the participants of an unofficial expert meeting to accept an SSPE diagnosis.
-Your name has remained in the memories of certain medical leaders.
-Reward: +30 coins
-Current: 1,288 coins
“The reward is nice, but I’d like it even more if Junho can overcome his illness.”
Though their meeting had been brief, Taeho murmured as he remembered Lee Junho, who had been unusually friendly.
***
A few days later, Taeho’s cell phone rang. It was an international call from New York.
-Dr. Kang Taeho, this is Lee Junbeom.
Director Lee Junbeom’s voice sounded completely different from how it had during the video conference a few days ago.
“Yes, Professor. Hello.”
-If you have time right now, may I speak with you for a moment?
“Of course.”
-Over the past few days, I found and read all of your papers, Dr. Kang.
Director Lee Junbeom’s voice trembled faintly.
Taeho listened in silence.
-And I realized just how arrogant I had been.
“…”
A brief silence passed.
-Dr. Kang Taeho, I am about to make a truly shameful request of you.
For a moment, the breathing on the other end of the line stopped.
-A doctor over fifty years old at Mount Sinai is asking the director of a clinic in Gangwon Province for help.
“What kind of help, specifically, are you asking for?”
Taeho asked cautiously.
-Would you be willing to discuss Junho’s condition with us regularly, even if only once a week, through video conferences? I would like our Mount Sinai medical team and you, Dr. Kang, to decide the direction of his treatment together.
“…”
-…I have been in neurosurgery for twenty years, but in the face of Junho’s illness, I am powerless.
Director Lee Junbeom’s voice choked. Right now, he was making this request not as a renowned doctor, but as the father of a young man.
“But I am only a country doctor…”
-No!
Director Lee Junbeom spoke firmly.
-I was shocked when I read your paper on hidradenitis, Dr. Kang. It was an approach that completely broke away from the existing framework of medicine. The Itai-itai disease case was even more astonishing. To develop a personalized therapeutic agent and cure an incurable disease… That was only possible with free thinking unbound by fixed ideas.
“That was possible because we are a small clinic.”
-On the contrary, it is more difficult for a small clinic to carry out that kind of customized treatment. I know very well that it would have been impossible if you had not led it, Dr. Kang.
Both statements were true.
Because they were a small clinic, they had been able to make decisions relatively freely. But ordinary small clinics could not even dream of having the capability to develop their own new drugs.
Director Lee Junbeom let out a heavy sigh.
-I’ll be honest with you. Right now, I am in despair.
“Professor.”
-The standard treatments for SSPE have clear limitations. Interferon, ribavirin… They all have only temporary effects.
Deep despair permeated his voice.
-But if it’s you, Dr. Kang… I feel as though you might find another way.
“I don’t know if I can be of help, but…”
There was, at a glance, some validity to Director Lee Junbeom’s opinion. After all, the most groundbreaking ideas were often born not from the mainstream, but from the fringes.
Director Lee Junbeom asked politely.
-Through weekly video conferences, I would like to report Junho’s condition to you and seek your advice on the direction of treatment. And if you happen to have an idea for a new treatment method, we can conduct the clinical trial.
Taeho fell into thought for a moment.
Director Lee Junbeom’s voice trembled.
“Please… Please help us.”
“Understood, Professor.”
-Really?
“Yes. I will participate in the weekly video conferences. I will do my utmost to help Junho.”
-Thank you. Thank you so much.
Director Lee Junbeom expressed his heartfelt gratitude.
***
The second-floor laboratory of Geumsan Clinic.
The walls were densely covered with molecular structure diagrams of heavy metal-binding proteins and graphs of blood concentration by patient, while experimental notes and printed papers lay scattered chaotically across the table.
Taeho sat across from Ki-hwan, reviewing the current status of development for the heavy metal detoxification treatment.
“Director, I think there’s a clear limit to how far we can go toward a universal treatment with the TNF-alpha-based detoxification protein.”
Ki-hwan pointed at the monitor displaying the experimental data.
“If you look at the cases of the village elders, there were definitely situations where it was effective, like with Mr. Seongu. But in the group with multiple exposures, the responses are all over the place. It’s hard to say it has a statistically significant advantage over existing chelation therapy.”
Taeho nodded and slowly scanned each patient’s response values.
An analysis of the blood samples from seventeen villagers who had shown symptoms of heavy metal poisoning revealed a complex mixture of lead, cadmium, arsenic, and other substances, and their routes of exposure were all different.
The customized protein they had tried on Park Seongu had produced astonishing results, but there were far too many variables to generalize it as it was.
“Mr. Ki-hwan, are there any companies or research teams more advanced in this field?”
After thinking for a moment, Ki-hwan cautiously opened his mouth.
“You know Bioject, right?”
“Bioject? The place that grew in scale after receiving investment from foreign capital last year?”
“Yes. They have a team developing a new heavy metal detoxification drug called MetalClear, and they independently possess a multi-metal-binding protein platform. They’ve completed Phase 2 clinical trials as well.”
Taeho’s eyebrows rose.
Interesting.
“How advanced is that team’s technology?”
“Judging only by their papers, it seems quite impressive. In particular, their technology for designing chimeric proteins capable of simultaneously binding multiple metals is far ahead of ours. But…”
Seong Ki-hwan trailed off.
“But?”
“Recently, their research progress has almost suddenly come to a halt.”
Something was clearly happening inside the company.
That was what Taeho’s intuition told him.
That night, Taeho began searching through Rema in his room.
He examined Bioject’s MetalClear clinical data in detail. The Phase 2 clinical trial results were neatly organized.
Heavy metal excretion rate: 94.2%. Adverse event rate: 3.1%. Patient satisfaction: 96.8%.
“Perfect.”
Taeho let out a small laugh.
“Rema, show me the full MetalClear Phase 2 clinical data. Focus on individual patient response curves.”
-Loading detailed data from the MetalClear Phase 2 clinical trial.
The materials displayed on the monitor showed each patient’s heavy metal excretion values and change curves by time point. Taeho silently checked the response patterns one patient at a time.
“Rema, recreate the graphs in chronological order for these patients’ recovery speed, heavy metal excretion rate, and stabilization point.”
-Generating graphs…
The patients’ curves were drawn one after another. But then…
“They all came out this similar?”
Most of the patients showed a sharp decrease in heavy metals at week 2, stabilization at week 4, and a complete recovery judgment at week 8.
“The graphs are too pretty. This doesn’t make sense.”
Taeho’s eyes narrowed.
“Rema, display the patients’ age, sex, underlying diseases, and exposure history data together.”
-Linking data…
Profiles of 120 patients appeared on the screen. The age range was distributed at perfectly even intervals from twenty-five to sixty-five, the sex ratio was exactly adjusted to 60% male and 40% female, and the exposure metal ratios were neatly divided into lead 40%, cadmium 35%, and arsenic 25%.
Taeho drew in a breath.
“Rema, calculate the probability of this distribution occurring naturally.”
-Calculating…
-Result: 0.0027%
“As expected, this means someone tampered with the data. Rema, show me the roster and organizational structure of the team that conducted this clinical trial.”
-Principal investigator: Dr. Park Sehui (heavy metal protein structure specialist)
-Co-principal investigator: Dr. Lee Dongjin (clinical toxicology)
-Researchers: Jeong Minsu and 9 others
-Data organization outsourced to: Clinical Data Solution
“Outsourced? Rema, show me detailed information on this company.”
Rema displayed information on Clinical Data Solution on the screen.
-Founded: March 2022 / Number of employees: 14
-CEO: Kim Yeongho (former senior consultant at EuroMed Capital)
Taeho’s eyes flashed.
“EuroMed Capital? Then that’s Bioject’s major shareholder. Rema, find more on this person named Kim Yeongho.”
Rema displayed Kim Yeongho’s career history.
“A person who didn’t even major in medicine is managing clinical data? And one from Bioject’s major shareholder?”
The pieces of the puzzle were gradually falling into place.
“Rema, analyze Bioject’s recent management situation. Especially things like profitability pressure or restructuring plans.”
-Analyzing Bioject’s management status…
Taeho carefully read through the materials Rema showed him.
“A foreign fund is pressuring them for short-term profits, and in the process, there’s plenty of incentive to embellish the data. Rema, check one more thing. What is the likelihood that Dr. Park Sehui, Dr. Lee Dongjin, and Dr. Jeong Minsu know about this manipulated data?”
-Analysis result: The likelihood of Dr. Park Sehui’s team being involved is low.
“What’s the basis?”
-Data management was transferred to an external company three months ago. The researchers only provided raw data, while Clinical Data Solution handled the final analysis. In addition, internal documents show that the researchers’ access rights to the data are restricted.
“Then the actual researchers are clean, and the management and external company manipulated it behind the scenes. Rema, simulate the impact on Bioject’s stock price if this manipulation is exposed.”
-Stock price impact simulation.
-Current stock price: 47,500 won
-Expected decline upon exposure of manipulation: 70–85%
-Expected stock price range: 7,000–14,000 won
Taeho ran calculations in his head. If the price fell by 80%, he could make an enormous profit through short selling.
But the problem was when it would explode.
“Rema, predict when this kind of manipulation is most likely to be exposed. Especially schedules like external audits or regulatory investigations.”
-Analysis result: The earliest likely point is next month, when an external audit is conducted during the quarterly earnings announcement. The next point is during FDA review before the start of Phase 3 clinical trials.
Taeho put all the information together. A time bomb was about to go off, and that moment would be his opportunity.
“If this goes well, I might be able to kill two birds with one stone.”