Chapter 403 Deal
Johnson Space Center on Clear Lake, 35 kilometers southeast of Houston, Texas.
It was already past ten o'clock in the evening when Johannesson got off the plane. A special car from the space center took him from the airport to a hotel near the Space City. He rested for the night. At seven o'clock in the morning, Johannessen hurried to Johnson Space without having breakfast. Center Building 1.
At this time, the space city was empty except for some security guards on night watch. The staff went to work at ten o'clock, and tourists could not enter until ten o'clock. In the entire Building 1 of the Johnson Space Center, there was only one office with lights on.
Dr. Collins is already waiting at the door downstairs. He is the leader of the medical team at NASA's Johnson Space Center, and Johnathan is a distinguished expert on their medical team.
After showing his ID to the security guard at night and completing the necessary security inspection procedures, Collins took Johanathan to the medical team's office.
"I didn't expect you to arrive last night. I'm very sorry. It must have delayed you a lot. Would you like some coffee?" Collins apologized and asked if he wanted coffee.
Johanathan refused coffee. He had no interest in coffee or any beverage other than plain water.
When he was an undergraduate student in biology at Harvard University, not to mention coffee, smoking and drinking were commonplace.
After successfully graduating from his undergraduate degree in four years, he was successfully admitted to Harvard Medical School. From then on, he gave up smoking, alcohol and all beverages, including coffee.
"I'm sorry, I always forget that you only drink mineral water." Collins went to the water dispenser and poured a glass of boiled water for Johannesson.
Johannessen didn't have time to make small talk and went straight to the point: "Is Steven feeling unwell at the moment?"
"Yesterday at the ground control center, I completed a call with him. He was not feeling any discomfort and his heart rate had been maintained at around 52 beats/min. We were very nervous and could not find the reason." Collins sat down.
"Although the microgravity of the space station will bring about many puzzling physical abnormalities, some of the problems we have encountered have not yet been solved. However, Steven's abnormality made me a little uneasy. We need more experts. , Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Neurology, Department of Endocrinology, Department of Thoracic Surgery, etc., we want to have a complete discussion." Johannessen didn't know why he was so nervous this time.
"They will all come, and they can arrive at four o'clock in the afternoon at the latest. Dr. Eugene, a cardiovascular medicine department at Johns Hopkins, has the first flight this morning, leaving at six o'clock. He should be here before nine o'clock." Collins will be specially hired. Experts were invited.
Although Steven does not feel any physical discomfort, he must pay attention to the slowdown in his heart rate. Some issues are beyond the capabilities of their medical team and must be discussed by the top experts in the country.
In twenty days, Steven will complete his six-month stay on the International Space Station, at which time he will return to Earth and be replaced by a new expedition member.
"You also think the question is not simple?" Johannessen smiled.
Collins frowned: "Heart problems, even the slightest sign of trouble, I think are big problems. Before we figure out the cause, we dare not use atropine to increase the heart rate rashly. It is meaningless. He is not feeling unwell at the moment, but who can It can ensure that bigger problems will not follow immediately. ”
On the International Space Station, atropine is a common drug in the medical kit.
"Why did I come here all night? Because I was worried that the problem might be inside the skull - the brain stem! Although the probability is extremely low, I still have to remind you." Johannessen took a deep sip of water.
"When he was on the ground, there were never any problems with his physical examination, no problems whatsoever." Collins felt that the possibility of intracranial disease was too small.
"Medical equipment can never be 100% reliable. There are many reasons for a slow heart rate. I hope I worry too much. If Steven only has a transient performance in a microgravity environment and it does not affect his return, that would be best, but in any case One——." Johannessen never consoles himself. Even if there is a one-in-one chance, he should take it seriously and not take chances. This is the quality of a doctor.
"If so, can he expect to return to the surface? Our current communications are private and informal and will not be recorded."
"I don't know the cause now, and it's hard for me to judge, but if it's an intracranial aneurysm or something like that, I'm afraid he won't be able to return. The impact of the fall when he returns will kill him."
"No, no, no, this is too scary. If it's an aneurysm, the artery will explode and burst on the way back." Collins' heart was beating rapidly.
Johannessen shook his head: "If it was in the brain stem, the situation would be even more terrifying."
"No, how can slow heart rate be the first symptom of an intracranial aneurysm? It shouldn't be headache, dizziness, or some neurological symptoms. What is the basis for your judgment? He is a strong guy. Take a look at his record. Numerous physical examinations showed no problems, not even the slightest abnormal data. The last physical examination before launch, the head MRI and cerebrovascular imaging, showed no problems, and the previous cerebral angiography also showed no problems. "
"Of course, this is just my worst guess, and I hope it's not the case. Not long ago, I saw a case in China. A tumor in the brain stem had slowed heart rate and breathing as the first symptoms. I was still frightened, so I By association, maybe I'm too sensitive. Don't worry too much. I'm a neurosurgeon. Naturally, anyone would think there's something wrong with the brain." Johannessen didn't want to scare Collins, after all, there is no evidence at the moment.
There are many reasons for a slow heart rate, and the one I have considered is just one of them.
"I hope not. If it is, we will be helpless. Returning will lead to death. Failure to return will also be waiting for death."
Collins looked out the window. The sun was getting brighter and brighter. He stood up and turned off the lights in the office.
"How about we go have some breakfast? You haven't had breakfast in Space City for a long time, right?" Collins invited Johannesson.
Johannesson was also hungry: "I thought you only had mineral water for me."
——
At the question and answer session yesterday afternoon, everyone actively asked questions. Some people's questions were very tricky, but they were easily resolved by Yang Ping.
Even Robert thought those tricky questions were excessive, but Yang Ping's answers left the questioner speechless.
"Today, continue to maintain the style of yesterday, just like that, Dr. Yang, if you remain humble, they will think that you are timid, scared, and lacking in knowledge and ability. You can only argue with them fiercely until they are speechless. It’s best to ridicule them a few more times, so that they can convince themselves that Americans are different from the Chinese and there is no need to save face for them.”
"How do you say it in Chinese terms?"
Robert turned to ask Lao Cheng.
Boss Cheng said: "Go to death!"
"Yes! Go to death!"
Robert told Yang Ping that when the lecture comes next, those guys who were still unsatisfied yesterday will definitely launch an attack and want to kill him.
From yesterday's meeting, when several guys continued to ask questions, we know that several guys are still unwilling to give up and will continue to bombard Dr. Yang today.
Yang Ping also thinks that Robert is right. If you keep your strength to these Americans, they will think you are not good enough. Even with this strength, fighting to death is the right way. Americans understand Americans. Yang Ping likes Robert very much. Give him a thumbs up.
Robert was very happy when he saw Yang Ping's thumb. The engineer from OrthoPediatricS followed behind: "Dr. Yang, can you take some time after class to talk about the patent transaction? Our company's negotiators have already arrived."
This engineer has always wanted to discuss cooperation with Yang Ping. It's not that Yang Ping doesn't have time to talk to him. He wants Huang Jiacai to come forward to talk about these trivial business matters. Huang Jiacai is a businessman with a very good mind.
Huang Jiacai came back only in the evening yesterday. Yang Ping made a power of attorney for Huang Jiacai and asked him to help negotiate the patent authorization.
Lao Cheng was the deputy in the negotiations. With Robert's help, Huang Jiacai found a translator, a lawyer who was good at intellectual property rights, and a complete negotiation team.
After the lecture, Dr. Yang still had something to do. There was no time for negotiation. Robert immediately said to the engineer: "Don't follow Dr. Yang. Talk to Dr. Yang's representative. This Mr. Huang, I have prepared a place for you."< br>
Robert found a meeting room in the hospital administrative area for them to negotiate, and then accompanied Yang Ping to the meeting room to give lectures.
"This is Dr. Yang's power of attorney. He has given me full authority to negotiate." Huang Jiacai took out the power of attorney and showed it to the representative of OrthoPediatricS.
OrthoPediatricS has four representatives. In addition to engineers, there is also a company vice president, a lawyer from the legal department, and a specialist from the patent department.
With Huang Jiacai, it was exactly four versus four.
"We are very interested in Dr. Yang's equipment and want to purchase the international patent rights for the entire set of equipment. I don't know if you agree with this deal. We are currently the only company in the world that focuses on children's orthopedic implants." Deputy Director of OrthoPediatricS, who represented the negotiation General Thorin is very direct.
Huang Jiacai can actually listen and speak English, but he learned it in a training class. Formal negotiations with Americans are difficult, so he still relies on a translator for help.
"We don't intend to sell the patent rights, we only want to exclusively authorize them." Huang Jiacai replied firmly.
Thorin shrugged: "Of course, if we carry out exclusive licensing, we will also pay a licensing fee that satisfies you."
"How much?" Huang Jiacai didn't want to waste time.
Thorin held out two fingers: "Two million dollars a year."
Huang Jiacai cursed in his heart, these guys are so stupid, they think the Chinese are country bumpkins who have never seen money.
To be fair, if it were in the country, this price would already be sky-high.
But this is in the United States. Huang Jiacai is very familiar with the pharmaceutical and medical device markets. He is well aware of some of the more famous patent transactions and litigations. There is almost no need to prepare for this negotiation.
Huang Jiacai took a piece of paper and a pen on his desk and wrote down on the paper the patent transaction cases and patent litigation cases of orthopedic devices in the United States in the past three years.
"Look, Mr. Sasso, this is a case of similar transactions in the past three years. This is your annual revenue in the children's and adolescent sports medicine market. Which one should you refer to for the price you just offered? Rick Sasso, a spine surgeon in Indiana. In a dispute with medical device giant Medtronic over the patent royalties of the Vertex cervical spine system, Medtronic paid Dr. Rick Sasso US$112 million in royalties. "Huang Jiacai was unceremonious.
Thorin's face instantly turned red.
"Dr. Yang's device has a much larger market space than the Vertex cervical spine system. It will help you dominate the entire children's and adolescent sports medicine market, and also open up part of the adult sports medicine market. Moreover, around this curved drill, you can also develop Get a set of trauma bones Medical equipment, just take the Vertex cervical spine system as a reference, and the licensing fee will not be a mere two million US dollars per year. Dr. Solin, you underestimate us. "Although Huang Jiacai came to the United States for the first time, he faced these guys. , very confident, with strong psychological quality, he is an expert at negotiation.
After Solin blushed briefly, he immediately said: "No, you can't look at it this way. If we can't cooperate, these patents of yours will not be able to reflect their due value. When you return to China, these patents will be very cheap or even shelved. This The inner core of the curved drill bit cannot be produced with China’s processing technology level.”
He did talk about the pain point. Because the inner core requires too high precision and cannot be processed by domestic manufacturers, Yang Ping was afraid of waste and was willing to license it to Americans. Otherwise, he would have found a domestic manufacturer to cooperate.
I had no choice but to seek cooperation with domestic manufacturers, but they offered hundreds of thousands and ignored them.
That's why Yang Ping planned to sell it to an American company and get some money first. After he got the money, he could make other plans.
As for the technical route of this set of equipment, he also left a backup plan. If one day, a domestic manufacturer is willing to cooperate in production, he can redesign an upgraded version to bypass his own patent.
"Mr. Solin, you are wrong. The children's orthopedic consumables market is currently a blue ocean. However, Stryker, Smith & Nephew, Johnson & Johnson, etc., almost all the giants have begun to make plans. You are surrounded by dangers, but you have no idea. I I am surprised by your slowness. To be honest, you are not the only one who is interested in our equipment. Due to commercial confidentiality, I cannot disclose more information, but I still kindly remind you that these giants, no matter who they are, Obtaining the authorization for our device is a heavy blow to OrthoPediatricS.”
Huang Jiacai took out his ticket to inspect the Stryker headquarters in Kalamazoo, Michigan and placed it on his desk.
"This is my flight ticket to Kalamazoo two days ago. I don't need to tell you the purpose of going. It's a business secret. We will also talk to you because you focus on children's orthopedic implants and will do a better job than them. You can use the equipment maximize their value. It is a pity that you do not realize their value, so we can only withdraw Secondly, I would like to tell Mr. Solin two pieces of information. First, we are not short of money. You can prove this information by knowing a little bit about Dr. Yang's commission for this operation. Second, friends in Kalamazoo know better than you and can negotiate with you. , in our Chinese language, contains a touch of sentiment.”
Huang Jiacai was mellow and unhurried, thinking: The lawyer and the patent specialist are sitting across from each other. This is a formal team. The board of directors has not held a meeting and cannot send out such a team. The foreigners are a little impatient and treat us as rookies.
Lao Cheng looked at the tickets on the table with a confused look on his face. Didn't this kid go to investigate and negotiate the patent? His ability to deceive and not blush during the entire conversation was just like the real thing.
If Lao Cheng hadn't known about his situation, he would have thought what he said was true.
"The annual exclusive licensing fee of 20 million US dollars can be paid for one year for the first time and every year. You know, for other manufacturers, we require the first payment for five years and then every five years. If you agree, we will sign the contract today. If you don’t agree, we don’t need to talk anymore.”
Huang Jiacai put away the tickets on his desk. He knew the size of OrthoPediatricS, so he couldn't charge too high a price.
Thorin stood up: "Wait, let me make a call, give me ten minutes."
Ten minutes later, Thorin came back: "Deal!"
"Deal!" Huang Jiacai shook hands with him.
This set of equipment is ready-made and can be produced with drawings, but it opens up a new market and is simply a cash cow. This price is the psychologically acceptable price of OrthoPediatricS.
Thorin reported to the company, and the CEO responded directly: Take it!
The company's board of directors discussed the transaction price and drew a range.
(End of chapter)