The Rise of Australasia

Chapter 804 -602: Sales of Penicillin_1

The successful test flight of the Test-1 Rocket was indeed good news, but Arthur also had greater expectations, namely further research into rockets and missiles.

For this purpose, Arthur specifically divided the current rocket research group into two parts. One part, led by Ziolkowski, was mainly responsible for the improvement and development of rockets, taking the Test series rockets as the main product, striving for continuous innovation in rocket development, and setting more records.

The other part, led by Helman, was responsible for converting existing rockets into missiles for military purposes and continuously innovating in that area.

This also meant that from then on, Ziolkowski and Helman’s research directions would be divided into rockets and missiles, one responsible for the military field and the other for the civil field.

Both were in agreement with this division. After all, Ziolkowski was of advanced age at 67 years old, and his main research direction was in rocket theory, without much energy to transform rockets into missiles.

Helman, on the other hand, was different. As a young scientist born in 1894, he was only about 30 years old, at the peak of his powers, with plenty of energy.

Rather than continuing to explore the theoretical side of rocket development, it made sense to have Helman focus on converting rockets into missiles, along with subsequent missile research.

After all, being younger, he had more energy and would likely have more innovative thoughts, perhaps leading to even greater imagination.

Arthur had a certain understanding of rockets and naturally knew the significance of the three experts known as pioneers of astronautics, Ziolkowski, Goddard, and Helman.

Entrusting missile research to Helman was at least a reasonable choice at this point in time.

Arthur did not expect major breakthroughs in rocket and missile research in the short term. But at least before World War II, it was quite possible that there would be more improvements.

After all, Germany had developed the V2 Rocket during World War II that had an attack range of over 300 km and a maximum flight altitude approaching 30 kilometers.

Australasia’s current research progress was already leading by much, so developing a rocket on par with the V2 Rocket didn’t seem too difficult, did it?

Apart from the success of the rocket tests, the Pharmaceutical Group also decided to sell Penicillin as a medicine, but to strictly keep its manufacturing formula and specific production principles confidential.

After all, in history, Penicillin was discovered before World War II, and many countries were already able to manufacture and produce Penicillin on their own during the war.

Rather than holding this technology in their own hands and waiting for other countries to develop it too, it would be better to start producing it as a medicine immediately, earning a large profit from other countries ahead of time.

Even if Australasia started selling Penicillin now, it would take other countries years, if not a decade, to discover and mass-produce Penicillin.

Moreover, due to the impact of The Great Depression, the timeline for mass-producing Penicillin could be delayed for over a decade.

And now it was 1924, only about ten years before the outbreak of World War II. This meant that by the time World War II actually began, there might not be many countries able to master the production of Penicillin, and just selling Penicillin could allow Australasia to earn a considerable profit.

The Pharmaceutical Group decided to sell Penicillin now because current medical methods were not very effective at treating infected wounds.

This meant that Penicillin, proven to treat wound infections, would be a lifesaving drug for those suffering from such infections.

Even Alexander the Great, a former King of Greece, died from wound infection and resulting sepsis, didn’t he?

Not to mention the poorer conditions of the ordinary people who, when faced with serious wound infections, had no choice but to wait for death.

At such a time, to declare the existence of a medicine that could completely treat wound infections would be a shock and sensation unmatched for those in need.

Even making use of a timing advantage could allow for a large amount of profit to be made during that period.

Currently, the cost of manufacturing a bottle of Penicillin medicine is around 0.9 Australasian dollars, but its retail price is generally upwards of 3.5 Australasian dollars, and even beyond 5 Australasian dollars in some regions.

That’s the domestic price within Australasia. Abroad, due to transportation costs and import tariffs, each bottle of Penicillin is sold for more than 10 Australasian dollars and is generally in a state of demand exceeding supply.

Penicillin truly hit the market in July 1924, and upon release, it caused a worldwide sensation and an intense media scramble to investigate and test it.

They conducted experiments on wounded, infected rats and were amazed to find that this medicine indeed could treat wound infections, which directly propelled Penicillin onto a pedestal, earning it the title of the greatest medicine of the 20th century.

And Flemington and Wright, the inventors of Penicillin, were publicly declared by Arthur to be awarded the Baron title, along with 5000 Australasian dollars each in rewards.

In Australasia, the net profit of a bottle of Penicillin is about 3 Australian dollars domestically, while overseas it is about 7 Australian dollars.

Currently, Penicillin has been on the market for just over a month and has sold over 400,000 bottles, with total sales exceeding 3.5 million Australasian dollars and net profits above 2.3 million Australasian dollars.

It is worth noting that these are just the sales figures for a little over a month, and they could have been affected by the initial public skepticism towards the pharmaceutical group’s marketing, as well as the inadequate transportation infrastructure, resulting in less favorable sales abroad.

Even so, Penicillin, priced over 9 Australian dollars abroad, has still gained significant popularity among Europeans and Americans.

The reason given by the Medical Group is the high prices due to immature production techniques and the limited quantity of medicine produced.

Of course, there are also hefty tariffs and transportation costs, which are why the price of Penicillin overseas is nearly double that of domestic prices.

Other reasons aside, the limited production capacity alone is enough to concern wealthier individuals.

These affluent people are not so worried about the cost in terms of money; what they fear more is that the needed medicine will be snapped up by the poor or will be consumed entirely.

Although the current price of Penicillin is indeed high, costing over 25 US dollars, this still doesn’t stop the wealthy Americans from buying it eagerly.

According to the sales statistics of the Medical Group in the United States, Americans have purchased the vast majority of Penicillin, contributing to at least 150,000 bottles of sales for the Medical Group in the US alone.

This is in spite of the fact that the Medical Group has employed a scarcity marketing strategy in the US, which to some extent restricted sales volume.

If purchasing restrictions were lifted, it’s likely that sales in the US alone would exceed a million bottles in a short period of time.

However, scarcity marketing has its advantages. The selling price of Penicillin in the US is the highest, typically over 11.5 Australian dollars, far exceeding the average European price of 10.5 Australian dollars.

But Americans are not deterred by the high price of such medicine; they even queue up every day to frantically buy it, becoming extremely frenzied.

According to the Medical Group’s estimates, the sales of Penicillin will not be affected in the short term, and sales are only expected to increase.

Unless other countries are able to quickly discover Penicillin and find ways to mass-produce it in a short time, they cannot impact the sales of Australasia’s Penicillin.

But the issue is, it took Australasia over ten years and a considerable effort from many related personnel to research Penicillin.

Especially Alexander Fleming, who was the first to discover Penicillin historically. Under Arthur’s guidance, he made swift progress, which is also why Penicillin was quickly discovered.

Arthur invested a large amount of funds in research, specifically assembled a research and development team for the discovery of Penicillin, and spent a fortune to create the world’s most advanced biological research lab. Still, it took more than ten years to realize Penicillin’s mass production.

If other countries do not receive substantial government sponsorship and recruit a significant portion of biology talent, completing this process could take at least ten years.

Basing on the monthly net profit of 2 million Australian dollars that Penicillin brings to the Medical Group, that’s at least 24 million in annual net profits and at least 240 million over ten years.

For Arthur, this already far exceeds the investment and cost into the Medical Group and the Biological Research Lab, with returns that are vastly greater than the investment.

More importantly, the upcoming World War II will be the greatest opportunity for Penicillin sales. Even if a few competitors emerge at that time, Australasia would still secure a significant portion of the Penicillin orders.

Such a drug, even in later generations, remains an extremely important antibiotic that will never be short of a market, truly a perpetual gold-spewing giant.

And this profit calculation doesn’t even take into account the current scarcity marketing strategy being employed by the Medical Group.

Looking at the actual production rate of the Penicillin manufacturing plant, the sales volume of 400,000 bottles in a little over a month is far behind the production rate. The following sales figures could be much higher, possibly even several times more.

This also means that during this period, the benefits of Penicillin to the Medical Group are immeasurable.

It’s not just financial income, but also includes the enhancement of national reputation and scientific research level, as well as the attraction to international students in biology.

At this time, the sales of Penicillin could also bolster the reputation of the Australasian pharmaceutical industry worldwide, laying a solid foundation for the sale of other medicines from Australasia.

Perhaps it could even become a brand, with the Australasia Pharmaceutical Group emerging as a world-renowned drug producer, and potentially becoming one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturers solely on the strength of Penicillin.

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