Three o'clock in the afternoon.

Stem cell cultivation room.

"Dr. Zhao, you said there's another patient who needs epithelial stem cell cultivation?"

Qu Xiaofeng asked Zhao Heng, surprised that in just two days, there was another patient requiring stem cell therapy.

"Yes, a patient admitted just yesterday with epidermodysplasia verruciformis, who has had seven surgeries before coming here."

Zhao Heng replied.

"Epidermodysplasia verruciformis? Having undergone seven surgeries without any malignant transformation, this patient truly has a unique constitution."

Qu Xiaofeng, as a pathologist, is very familiar with all kinds of diseases, especially those that can lead to cancer.

"Indeed, I originally wondered if we could use gene-targeted therapy as a radical solution, but Professor Li Hongwei mentioned this morning that currently, neither this country nor the world has reached the technical level to cure epidermodysplasia verruciformis, a genetic disorder, with gene-targeted therapy."

Zhao Heng said with a touch of regret.

In modern society, each technological breakthrough cannot be accomplished by one person; it requires an outstanding team, ample funding, and a great deal of time and effort.

Take Professor Li Hongwei, for example, who developed EPS cells. It took him and his mentor nearly two generations to finally develop it, and it will still take at least a few more years to be ready for clinical application.

Scientific research, especially overcoming a technical challenge, is exceedingly difficult.

A theoretical breakthrough might come from a sudden inspiration of a scientist, but an actual technological application breakthrough can only rely on the gradual effort of human and material resources.

Compared to finance, real estate, and the internet, technical research and development, especially in the life sciences field, is in a way low in cost-effectiveness and a thankless task.

This is also why it's now tough to see the emergence of new drugs and technologies domestically.

"That's true. Stem cell cultivation and treatment are challenging enough, and gene-targeted therapy is more than double that difficulty. I believe there is no hope for its clinical application in the short term, especially domestically, where its application is even more distant."

As a pathologist, Qu Xiaofeng is very knowledgeable about various cancers, and gene-targeted therapy aims at genetic disorders and cancers.

After all, the occurrence of cancer is mostly related to the activation of proto-oncogenes in the human genome.

"There's no need to even mention the domestic research environment."

Zhao Heng shook his head slightly.

Those who know the domestic research environment know it. There's no need for more elaboration.

"Dr. Zhao, as long as we do a good job in the field of stem cell treatment, I think that's quite impressive. As for gene-targeted therapy, it's really too far from us."

Qu Xiaofeng said somewhat emotionally.

Honestly, being able to engage in stem cell therapy at Eastern Hospital is already like a blessing, in Qu Xiaofeng's view.

For many diseases, especially rare and intractable diseases, research is minimal domestically, and once someone gets such one, it's only possible to buy expensive medication developed abroad.

The price is unimaginably high.

Just this year, the FDA in the Beautiful Country announced the approval of a one-time gene therapy, Hemgenix, for treating hemophilia B developed by Australia's CSL Behring, priced at 3.5 million US Dollars, setting a record for the world's most expensive treatment.

In less than half a year, the "world's most expensive drug" changed hands three times. In August, a gene therapy product, Zynteglo, for treating beta-thalassemia patients launched by the Beautiful Country's Bluebird Bio, was priced at 2.8 million US Dollars, breaking Novartis's Zolgensma for the most expensive drug; then in September, they launched a second gene therapy, Skysona, priced at 3 million US Dollars, to slow the progression of neurologic dysfunction in boys with early active cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD) aged 4-17, breaking price records again.

3.5 million US Dollars, according to the current exchange rate, is nearly 24 million RMB. Spending so much money on treatment is truly unimaginable for ordinary people, meaning if ordinary people had such a disease, they could only await death.

"Exactly, developing a gene-specific drug for treating epidermodysplasia verruciformis would cost several hundred million US Dollars, which is an unimaginable research investment domestically."

Zhao Heng said with some sighs.

Currently, with the blessing of his golden finger, his medical skill level has reached the pinnacle within Eastern Hospital, and no doctor can compare to him.

However, in the research field, he's still a novice, and he hasn't heard of any doctor at Eastern Hospital coming up with anything impressive in the last ten years.

The only one who made some achievements in research is the director of oncology, Liu Shangming, now the dean, who developed several cancer treatment drugs, which only function to slow down cancer cell growth.

Combined, these drugs are worth just over a hundred million RMB, which is incomparable to the research investments of the world's top biomedical companies frequently exceeding billions of US Dollars.

"Dr. Zhao, using epithelial stem cell cultivation to treat epidermodysplasia verruciformis is already an innovation. Together with surgery, if treated properly, the chances of recurrence for the patient are extremely low."

Qu Xiaofeng said slowly, he is quite a pragmatic person, and he thinks Zhao Heng's approach is open enough. Nowadays, due to the shortage of medical resources, doctors have too many patients to diagnose each day.

Because there are too many patients at hand, doctors are always running around busily, a phenomenon even more apparent in higher-level hospitals.

So, in such an environment, Zhao Heng is still thinking about innovative treatment methods, which is already quite admirable.

This is why several department directors value Zhao Heng so much; it's because they see this rare quality in him, something unfortunately lacking in current young doctors.

"That's all we can do for now."

Zhao Heng nodded. A breakthrough in technology isn't achievable in a short time, so one can only try to find an optimal solution under existing conditions.

This is the only course of action available.

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