500 Million USD Arrives, Entering the Health Product Market

Over the next few days, Wei Kang prepared the necessary documents, registered the patent for the hangover remedy, and then submitted an application to the Drug Administration Bureau.

The application and approval process for health foods was quite simple. As long as the relevant documents were provided, the Drug Administration Bureau would test the samples and inspect the production site. As long as the requirements were met and the samples were found to be non-toxic, approval would not be a problem.

Sanqing Pharmaceutical had already obtained dual GMP certification for food and pharmaceuticals, so once approval came through, production could begin immediately.

However, producing these Sanqing Brand Hangover and Liver Protection Capsules was not a problem. Sales, on the other hand, were a headache.

In recent years, many pharmaceutical companies had expanded into the health supplement sector. Last August, for instance, Sea City Pharmaceutical announced that it would spend 938 million yuan to acquire a 60% stake in Vitaco, a health supplement company from Kangaroo Country. Jiangzhong Pharmaceutical, Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, and others had also made moves in the health supplement field.

The reason pharmaceutical companies were willing to pour huge sums into the health supplement market to claim a share of the pie was, naturally, the considerable profits. Amid tighter controls on medical insurance spending and increasingly fierce competition in the pharmaceutical market, pharmaceutical companies were facing slowing growth.

Yet the gross profit margins in the health supplement industry were remarkably enticing. Take By-Health, a pure health supplement company listed on the A-share market: in its interim report this year, its gross sales margin had reached around 67%. That margin alone was enough to crush most listed pharmaceutical companies.

However, pharmaceutical companies entering the health supplement industry did not come without risks. On the contrary, the risks were substantial.

There were several main reasons for failure. First, the approach was wrong. Many pharmaceutical companies mistakenly believed that making drugs required the same mindset as making health supplements, but that was not the case. For example, many companies still developed health supplements according to pharmaceutical R&D principles, resulting in products without a sufficiently broad consumer market.

Second, the sales channels were wrong. Many pharmaceutical companies habitually focused their health supplements on retail pharmacy channels. But that caused the effects of health supplements to overlap with those of drugs, making the benefits of the supplements impossible to highlight.

Third, the operating team was wrong. Many pharmaceutical companies still used their original drug sales teams to run their health supplement businesses. If they truly wanted to enter the health supplement market, an independent team was essential.

The first problem did not exist for a hangover remedy. Obviously, the market had strong consumer demand.

That meant the main issues were sales channels and the sales team, so Wei Kang specifically sought out Sun Chengren, the head of sales, to discuss the matter.

When Old Sun saw the formula for the new hangover remedy, he was immediately astonished. "President Wei, your R&D capabilities are incredible. You're entering the health supplement market again so soon?"

He then gave a thumbs-up and praised him. "Not bad. This is an excellent idea. It can open up the market. After all, health supplements have extremely high profit margins. As long as the product is solid, there's no need to worry about finding sales channels."

Wei Kang gave a wry smile. "That's exactly why I came to you. How do you think we should open up the market?"

Sun Chengren picked up a bottle of the hangover remedy, poured out the red-and-white capsules, and asked curiously, "President Wei, is this stuff really that effective?"

Wei Kang replied confidently, "Don't worry about that. No one understands pharmaceuticals better than I do. Why don't you carry a bottle with you? You have plenty of business dinners, so you'll need it. Try it a few times, and you'll see just how effective it is."

Sun Chengren tucked it away with a smile. "Then I'll give it a try. President Wei, you're truly considerate toward your employees. It really warms the heart."

"However," he said after pondering for a moment, quickly offering a suggestion, "we have two options when it comes to sales. We can either outsource sales, or acquire a health supplement company and obtain its sales channels and team."

"That depends on your future plans, President Wei. If you intend to make this business bigger, acquiring an established health supplement company would be more suitable. Otherwise, outsourcing the sales team would be simpler and more convenient."

Wei Kang nodded. "At the moment, we only have one health supplement ready to launch, so let's first find a professional outsourced sales team for health supplements. At the same time, we can look around the market for a suitable health supplement company. A small local company would work too. Once Pfizer's funds arrive, we can acquire it directly."

"Before long, we'll also enter the cosmetics market. Once Sanqing Group is established, it will have three subsidiaries—health supplements, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. The three markets will advance side by side and exert their strength together."

"Let's build the framework first, one step at a time. That's this year's goal."

Sun Chengren was deeply gratified and agreed with a smile. "Exactly. President Wei is ambitious and farsighted. I truly admire you."

He immediately stood up, full of energy.

"President Wei, I'll hurry up and settle the outsourcing sales matter. Just wait for my good news."

Wei Kang nodded and watched Old Sun leave.

Then, all of a sudden, the phone rang. It was Andre, Pfizer's Asia-Pacific president.

Andre sounded extremely excited on the phone.

"My dear Wei, the initial payment has just been transferred to Sanqing. I'm currently reporting back to headquarters and pushing with all my strength for FDA approval and market launch. Headquarters is very satisfied with this cooperation and attaches great importance to it. I'm sure there will be good news soon."

Wei Kang was pleasantly surprised by Andre's efforts and quickly said, "Thank you so much. Be sure to tell me when you return to China. I'll treat you properly to show my gratitude."

Andre burst into laughter. "Wei, let me tell you some good news. If everything goes smoothly, I'll be promoted very soon. I'm afraid I won't be returning to China in the short term. To be honest, I truly enjoyed my wonderful time in China. But I'll come back when I travel in the future."

Wei Kang hurriedly congratulated him, and both of them were immersed in joy.

It seemed that this cooperation was a win-win for both sides. Andre would gain results and rise in rank, while Wei Kang would receive a massive sum and open up the international market. Both had bright futures ahead.

Moreover, judging from Andre's tone, if this cooperation succeeded, Pfizer intended to deepen its collaboration with Sanqing and pursue various drug licensing agreements with each other.

Wei Kang immediately felt a sense of urgency. Sanqing Pharmaceutical's foundation was still too thin. It currently had only one flagship product. If it could develop more new drugs, it would undoubtedly grow quickly, from a small sapling into a true towering tree.

After all, every pharmaceutical giant possessed a rich product line. Even if many of those products came through patent licensing, they could still flourish on multiple fronts, seize as many markets as possible, and establish their own dominant position.

"I still need to find time to look through those discarded prescriptions more often. I need to extract as many new drugs as possible."

Wei Kang ended his call with Andre, his heart filled with emotion.

Just then, another call came in. To his surprise, it was Jian Lianyun.

Dr. Jian was as straightforward as ever.

"Wei Kang, when are you coming to the hospital for your routine examination? Don't forget that you're still sick."

"Right," Wei Kang said. After taking the anticancer drug for some time and feeling well, he had nearly forgotten that he was still a liver cancer patient.

But Dr. Jian was right. He really did need to go to the hospital for a thorough examination.

He quickly agreed and arranged a time to return to the hospital for a follow-up checkup.

Dr. Jian seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood and casually asked, "President Wei, what have you been busy with lately? You're nowhere to be seen all day. Are you developing new drugs again?"

Wei Kang felt a little pleased with himself, but his tone remained calm. "I've been busy preparing the anticancer drug for production before its launch."

"However, I was researching new drugs in the laboratory a couple of days ago and got lucky. I discovered a prescription that can promote the metabolism of alcohol in the human body. I'm preparing to turn it into hangover relief and liver protection tablets and enter the health supplement market."

"Hangover medicine?" Jian Lianyun seemed somewhat disappointed after hearing that. She sighed. "I thought you'd developed some earth-shattering miracle drug again."

She seemed hesitant to speak. "There's something I'm not sure I should say. Wei Kang, you're the most talented person in pharmaceuticals I've ever met. A person's energy is limited, especially since you're also an entrepreneur. The time you can devote to research and development is already precious."

"Actually, I think you should focus your energy on drug development. There are still so many incurable diseases in this world, and countless patients leave this world in despair every year."

"You shouldn't spread yourself too thin just to make money on health supplements. Drugs like anticancer medicine are what truly matter. Even if you want to develop new drugs, you should create other medicines that can cure illnesses and save lives. That way, your talent won't go to waste."

Wei Kang was stunned for a moment, then didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Dr. Jian seemed to have spent too long in an ivory tower; she was a little too detached from the real world. Saving lives and treating illnesses was certainly important, but hangover medicine and whitening drugs were also extremely important to the public.

However, he had no intention of explaining or arguing. After all, she had helped him greatly with his Phase III Clinical Trial, and from a doctor's perspective, what she said wasn't wrong.

Perhaps she had lumped his hangover medicine together with the common scammy health supplements on the market.

"Alright, alright. Don't worry, my heart is still in pharmaceuticals. This hangover medicine was just something I made on a whim, a little experiment for fun. No need to take it too seriously, haha."

Wei Kang quickly laughed it off and changed the subject.

After hanging up, Jian Lianyun pondered for a moment before dialing a familiar number.

"Dad, how did that matter we discussed last time go?"