Battered Young Miss 127 Origins 15

Several years after the squabble at the home of Sheng Jinzhe, Zhu Na was barred from going there, while Sheng Liena was harshly scolded by her father and grandmother. That created much tension between Sheng Jinzhe and his daughter, even his relationship with his girlfriend turned sour.

The years hadn't been all bad for the Shengs, as Sheng Liena graduated with an overall score of 83% which is equivalent to a 3.5 GPA as a second class upper, which meant that she had an academic achievement that was marketable and favorably looked on by employers in the job market. Not that she was going about looking for a job, because right from university her father had begun grooming her to take up the position of clinical research director at Sheng Pharmaceuticals.

A pretty woman dressed in a black pant suit with her hair in a ponytail, her silver diamond earrings dangled as he walked in her dark heels towards the area of the conference room where other directors were already seated. She had light makeup on, holding in her hand a cellphone and dark-blue folder with the company logo on it.

"Director Sheng, the meeting is about to start."

Sheng Liena gave a slight nod in the general direction of the other directors sitting on the round table. There was ten directors in total, eight of them were men and the rest females. She took the only vacant seat at the table which was located on the left side of the room at the far end of the round table.

President Sheng sat at the head of the table, while the acting Vice President Ding sat next to him, the other directors sat facing each other. The director of logistics stood at the end of the table, while setting the projector up for the presentation ahead, who was a woman in her late thirties of average height, she was dressed in a black skirt suit with a pixie hair cut and dark heels.

"The presentation will begin in five minutes."

Everyone in the room sat upright on their seat going through the printed fifteen page power point slide. A few minutes after the woman that was to present, pressed a button on a small white remote control device, which caused the blinds in the room to squeeze on top of each other,casting the room in darkness. A florescent white light came from the oval opening of the dark square projector. Taking on the keyboard of the laptop in front of her, the white wall was suddenly covered with the slides that she was going to speak with the people in the room.

"Good morning, I am Sun Bingyu from logistics and today I would be covering the new products that we have launched and how they are performing in various healthcare settings. At the end of the presentation, I will be answering questions regarding what I would be talking about today. I will now begin."

Director Sun's computer screen for the slide was already set to change to the next slide when she was done with speaking on a particular slide.

"As you all know, diabetes is now a public health problem, that is creating a burden on the healthcare system, depending on the type of diabetes the individual may or may not require insulin, which is naturally produced by the body, but in a diabetic the chemical may not be enough to control the excess blood sugar. Over the last ten years, 75% of insulin users have complained of having to inject themselves everyday, which is why our new product "Yuezza" an inhalational insulin would reduce the strain placed on individuals with diabetes. It is a growing challenge, since insulin is affected by the enzyme in the mouth, although it is absorbed rapidly in the bloodstream, its effect in the body is too short."

As the Director of logistics spoke, the people in the room paid keen attention to what she was saying, the only person that felt slighted by the presented was the director of clinical research, Sheng Liena, since her job involved working on the company product and discovering new ways to improve the drugs that was produced by Sheng Pharmaceuticals, a part of her job entailed research, but she also had to split part of it with logistics since handling both product design and research at the same time was a bit tedious for the new director.

"Yuezza is doing well in the market, but the issue with poor bioavailability still remains. Also, individuals with respiratory disease are not able to use it. Many doctors that I have spoken to say that their patients are more compliant when they were introduced to insulin inhalers due to it's ease of use. The trial product of insulin patch "Yuebra" which allows individuals with diabetes to receive insulin through a patch on their skin with the touch of a button. With the changes and advancement in technology we can synchronize their medical device with their smart phone, that is even if they forget to bring their portable device with them, their smart phone can still stand in place to remotely control the insulin device from where they left it. Market survey shows that 95% of young diabetics say that the device had given them more control over their lifestyle choices and they are very satisfied with using an insulin patch over the insulin inhaler. With the recent modification our insulin inhaler, satisfaction with older diabetics have jumped from 65% to 91% during the last two years. Visits to private clinics, prisons and other hospitals gave more insight into where our focus at Sheng Pharmaceuticals should be, which is on the younger generation because they are now the new face of diabetes unlike the past when it used to be the older people. Also, with rapid changes in technology and growing interest by young people, I know we can both benefit from the long term partner with our insulin products at Sheng Pharmaceuticals. This marks the end of my presentation, Thanks for listening."

At the end of the slide was a chibi girl with pink hair curtsying with the word "Thanks you" at the bottom of the screen. The room erupted into rounds of claps from the President of Sheng Pharmaceuticals to the Director of public relations.

"You spoke about older people being the best target for the inhalational insulin, does that mean that we don't need to make any changes to it? Didn't you say at the beginning at the product requires a return to the lab?"

Nine pair of eyes looked at the director of marketing who was a man in his 40s, while he waited for the director of logistics to answer his question.

"Director Lan, it is true I said at the beginning that insulin inhalers needed product modification, but the modification I spoke of at the beginning had to do with the poor bioavailability of the product and not the ease of use that I made mention of towards the end. It was only after we created a device holder designed for individuals with tremors, spastic movement and arthritics did we see that increase in customer satisfaction. The drug itself acts for a short period of time, the department of clinical research needs to find ways to make it last longer in the body."

"There is something I want to point out in your presentation, you went on about technology this and that, have you thought about the possibility of their phone being hacked or someone messing up with their medication device they are away from the device? Who is going to cover the cost from taking up that scale of project?"

Vice President Ding was not looking too pleased about the prospect of coughing up more money, he liked that the company was doing well with the launch of the insulin patch, although it was only out on experimental purpose, it was receiving a lot of positive feedback from the consumers.

"Vice President Ding, it would cost a lot of money to get the technology that I spoke of, but don't you think it is a good thing for Sheng Pharmaceuticals to come up with such an innovative idea?! Yes! Other products in the company are doing well, but why can't we tap into the unlimited potential with the younger people who are very much technologically inclined, the business world is slowly moving in that direction of using technology as a weapon to achieve their goal, why can't we at Sheng Pharmaceuticals do so?!"

Director Sun spoke with much passion in her voice, as some of her colleagues nodded in approval.

"I'll like to add something, just to be clear, it is not meant to upset any of you seated here."

The moment President Sheng heard his daughter's voice, he knew that trouble was about to occur. Of course he wasn't the only one that felt that way, many of the directors at the table began shifting uncomfortably on their seat.

"Director Sun I really appreciate the presentation you gave regarding two of our newest product, which the clinical research team worked so hard, day and night to ensure that the product was ready by the deadline line stipulated by the company. I may be an irresponsible leader to the people working on my team, but I can assure you that none of them are lazy, they take pride in their work, which is a valuable asset to the company. Now to the issue of product bioavailability, this is something that may take months or years to overcome. We are passively working on improving the product's structure and composition, because we have other drugs that needs to be designed and marketed! When you raise your nose in the air about the product needing to be taken back to the lab as if you are talking about returning a shoe to the store where it was bought. It makes the job I enjoy doing very frustrating! I'm this close to handing my resignation, because it is clear that you don't have any idea of what goes on behind the scene at the clinical research department. Not just mine department alone, but other departments as well. Do you know that the company is almost running to a deficit because of the rush to launch a new product? When you bring up things like "we need to follow the trend in technology", I know and many of us know that a company like ours can't grow without moving along with the current of change, your timing about implementing a more advance technology is bad. It is something that has to be brought up when the company is in the surplus line. Right now we are "yellow" we need to be in the "green" in order for your idea to receive funding!"

"Well spoken Director Sheng! You hit the nail in the head! I'm sure logistics would be more attentive to what goes on at Sheng Pharmaceuticals, rather than being muddle headed and only focusing on what goes on outside the company."

It was no secret that Director Lan did not like Sheng Liena, but he could never disapprove of the way she projected her thought, very sharp and dedicated to her work. Many thought it was because President Sheng was closely keeping an eye on his daughter, but regardless of that, no one could fault her for being a hard worker. The directors gave a round of applause to Sheng Liena at the end of her speech with the exception of Director Sun who wasn't looking too happy with her for punching holes at her presentation.

"Director Sheng, I'm sorry it came across as being inconsiderate of other departments, I admit I should have checked into the company's finances by speaking with the director of finance or his team members. When the company regains its footing, I will send a proposal to the director of Finance regarding releasing funds for the project. If no one has any questions for me. I will like to conclude the question and answer section of my presentation."

"The meeting has now ended, you may all return to your various departments."

The President of Sheng Pharmaceuticals brought the meeting to a close, as each person stood up and began making their way out of the room.

Chapter end