Captive Reaction

by Dawn Marsanne

  Chapter 3

  In one of the chemistry laboratories at Persford University, Daniel Lythgoe or Dan as most people called him, was checking over his reactions. He was now in the second year of his postdoctoral research and he hoped that he might be able to stay on longer should he receive the necessary funding. He was a bit worried about one of his reactions as it didn’t seem to have gone so well. The result being he might not have enough material to carry on to the next stage and so he would have to go back to the beginning and repeat the previous four steps. What a nuisance, research was often like that, many setbacks along the way and tedious repetition. However, if you embarked on a career in research you had to expect that it wouldn’t be plain sailing. However, he had been lucky to find himself on a project which really seemed to be going places. Professor Plumpton had been really clever to design this class of tyrosine kinase inhibitors which had started to show such promise in the field of cancer therapy. He didn’t understand all the complex biology, that wasn’t his job but there was no doubt it was breaking new ground.

  It was ironic that the professor had fallen ill with bowel cancer himself and had been away for much of the previous four months receiving treatment. His appearance a few weeks ago had shocked Dan, what little hair he had previously possessed had fallen out leaving him completely bald. His face showed a sickly grey pallor and he had clearly lost weight. His gait was odd, he walked slowly and slightly twisted to one side. Although only aged sixty-two he could pass for someone much older and it was a distressing sight to behold. Dan just hoped that his treatment had been successful and would lengthen his life sufficiently to enable him to see his project achieve even greater success.

  Another postdoctoral researcher, Patrick Dunford had completed two years and had just had his contract extended for a further year. In the prof’s absence he had directed much of the research and along with Dan, there were also two PhD students, Hannah Gregson and Seth Richards who were in their first and second years of research respectively. Obviously, Patrick had considerable responsibility whilst his professor was absent and from time to time other academics had stepped into the breach to make suggestions or problem solve. Their other postdoctoral chemist Thierry Du Bois had less than a week to go before he finished his contract and headed back to Europe. The university had desperately tried to persuade him to stay but with the ongoing uncertainty over Brexit, he had decided to take up a research position at the University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris. It was a sad fact that the science faculty had seen a decrease of around twelve percent in its European students over the last year since the referendum. Once their studies had come to an end they had decided to return to their home countries rather than live with the uncertainty concerning their right to remain in the UK. There had been much in the press regarding the possible reduction of funding from the EU and so many students had decided not to take the risk and stay on in Persford.

  Dan had made an early start today as he knew the day would be disrupted by the meeting taking place. Both he and Pat would be attending the presentation being made by the two business consultants from PerzSolve. Today could be an exciting springboard to securing extra funding and maybe the launch of a spin-off company. He was keen to hear their proposals and to be involved with what promised to be an exciting new venture. Whether or not he stayed on in Persford it could only be good for his career.

  He had just finished checking around the laboratory, making sure it looked reasonably tidy when Patrick popped in to speak to him.

  ‘All set Dan?’ he asked. ‘I’m heading down to the meeting room now. Derek’s arrived and is waiting in there for the business consultants.’

  ‘Who’s going down to reception to meet them?’ asked Dan.

  ‘Oh, Erin is going down to meet them. She’s organised some refreshments as well. See you in a couple of minutes then?’

  ‘Sure, I’ll just get my things,’ and with that Patrick hurried off leaving Dan to wash his hands and follow him. However, Dan needed to pay a visit to the toilets before the meeting, not just for the usual reason but because he needed to perk himself up a little. He found an empty cubicle and took out his packet of coke. Placing a generous pinch of the white powder on the back of his hand he snorted it up his nostril. Immediately he felt energised and able to face the morning ahead. He washed his hands and carefully checked his nose in the mirror. All appeared to be well and Dan sprinted along the corridor feeling on top of the world.

  **

  Erin Jones had been employed at the university in different sections since leaving school at eighteen. She’d spent a couple of weeks as a work experience student and had returned to take up a job as a junior administrative assistant, now she was one of the five support staff in the Department of Chemistry. This team supported all the senior staff including Professor Plumpton as well as all the postdoctoral, PhD students and undergraduates. Erin had done well for herself despite not being very academic and coming from a rather wayward family. She’d manage to build up a persona of respectability despite there being some whispered comments from time to time about her father and brothers having a dubious reputation in the area.

  From time to time though she’d been tempted as her family had not instilled into her very honest values. She’d managed to divert a few funds from a hospitality budget during one of the science open days. She’d also managed to obtain a projector from one of the meeting rooms which was now being used to show films in some pub or other. But the university could afford it, that was the way she looked at it, they got huge grants and the academic staff got generous salaries, many multiples of her own. Her other weakness was her inability to stop talking about things which should be confidential. Clearly, she saw many documents pertaining to student files and also to developments in the research area. She had no scientific knowledge but it had been clear how well the department had been doing recently, hence the organisation of the meeting today. There had even been a piece in the local paper about a possible spin-off company. She had been privy to the letters and emails about the cancer research and how the department was breaking new ground. She had carelessly let slip to her boyfriend that she thought they were looking at an area of brain cancer. That much was clear, you didn’t have to have a degree to understand the gist of the communications. However, she now wondered whether she should have told Scott, her boyfriend about how many documents she could access. He had some friends who did some rather dubious work for a powerful person in the area and now the cat was out of the bag there was no possibility of putting it back inside.

  Chapter 4

  Professor Derek Plumpton remained seated whilst he introduced his guests. They all nodded and smiled at the visitors and had pens poised ready to take notes. Dan however was grinning as if privy to some secret joke. Whilst the professor was speaking he began to slap his legs loudly and rhythmically until he received a hard stare from Pat. Matt and Brett looked around the room at the assembled group too preoccupied by thoughts about their presentation to notice Dan’s rather hyperactive behaviour. The chemists present in addition to Professor Plumpton, were post-docs Dan and Pat and Dr Phil Sweetman who had been deputising for the professor. Professor Ian French was representing the Science Faculty as a whole and Hilary Worksop was the Head of Innovation and Technology. Professor Rebecca Levinson was an oncology expert from the Persford Medical School and Dr Steve Carter was the head pharmacologist responsible for the biological profiling of the compounds.

  The plan was that Brett would speak first and then Matt would take over and present more details on the figures and the aims of their business plan.

  ‘Good morning everyone, thanks for meeting with us today,’ said Brett, standing up in front of the screen, and flashing everybody his best smile. ‘I’m going to present a broad overview of our vision for what could be such an exciting spin-off company here in Persford,’ and he brought up his first slide.

  The screen showed a list of the subjects within the business plan which they aimed
to cover and started with some data showing how many successful new companies had been set up within the university environment in various fields of technology and life sciences. He started to summarise the main goals and milestones they should aim for. He outlined a management team which needed to be set up and their recommendations for a scientific advisory board, naming some additional academics who could provide ongoing advice and guidance and whose presence would be endorsing the scientific concept. Throughout the presentation, he enthused about the novelty of the discovery and the huge potential it offered in the field of cancer therapy and the potential commercial prospect it offered. This was termed the unique selling point or USP which was what differentiated the product and research from the competitors.

  ‘We have already been in discussion with the Persford Innovation and Technology Department, which is chaired by Hilary here and they have agreed to contribute a further one hundred thousand pounds,’ he paused to smile at Hilary who appeared to flush slightly as he met her gaze.

  ‘That’s right, Dr Chandler,’ said Hilary.

  ‘Please, call me, Brett,’ he interrupted, causing a further heightening of Hilary’s complexion.

  ‘We are so excited by this project which we feel could really put Persford on the map,’ contributed Hilary. ‘Success breeds success and this could be a springboard to ensure that eminent scientists are attracted to the university to further bolster our science departments. We will of course, apply to have this money designated under the Enterprise Investment Scheme in order to make it as tax efficient as possible.’

  ‘My next slide shows our plans to create the Persford Innovation Fund. We feel this should aim to raise a further one hundred thousand pounds, from business angels, private investors and venture capitalists. As I am sure you are all aware investments in venture capital vehicles also attract favourable tax breaks. However, before we raise money in this way we need to allocate and spend the original investment from the university.’

  ‘How will you go about attracting venture capital investment?’ asked Derek Plumpton.

  ‘That’s a good question,’ replied Brett. ‘We will contact various banks and fund houses with particular interest and expertise in this area of investment. We’ve already prepared some adverts for posting on the scientific bulletin boards. My colleague, Matt, will now outline further details about how we feel the up-front monies should be used. Over to you, Matt,’ and Brett sat down, leaving the floor to his business partner.

  ‘Thanks, Brett. The next slide shows what we believe the market size of this discovery to be worth. As you can see it is considerable. We’ve done a competition analysis and it is very favourable, as you can see in figure three. We feel you could really benefit from further manning on the project. At least one more postdoctoral position is needed, preferably two.’

  ‘If I can just say something,’ said Professor Plumpton. ‘Funding for postdoctoral work is now more difficult post-Brexit, although I think one further position should be possible. We could consider some internal movement of postdoctoral students but I’m afraid that we have seen a considerable reduction of numbers due to people returning to Europe and also being unwilling to move from mainland Europe to here. We have the lowest number of European students that I’ve ever known in my career.’

  ‘I see,’ said Matt, ‘well we need to address the manning issue somehow, perhaps we could assign some further time to this later. Although I want to add that an alternative proposition is to offer some fixed-term contracts to people with industrial experience in synthesis who are perhaps between jobs or have been made redundant in the area. They could bring a wealth of experience to your enterprise.’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ agreed the professor and Hilary.

  ‘We also need to make sure your invention is protected by patents, this is extremely urgent. We suggest an external company is brought on board to apply for the patent and write up the claims and any technical details. There are a number of firms we feel are suitable and it avoids any chemistry effort being diverted into this rather tedious task.’

  ‘Of course, it makes sense,’ nodded Derek.

  ‘We propose that we set up a business with a name to be agreed at a future date and issue shares which will be unlisted but would be of interest to specialist investment funds. At a later date, the company might be able to list on AIM, the Alternative Investment Market. There is so much to organise but we feel we have put together a comprehensive package which we would manage for you on an ongoing basis. My final slide shows what is termed an “Exit Route,” and Matt clicked his wireless mouse. ‘The ultimate goal would be that a pharmaceutical company is sufficiently interested to buy out this spin-off company, resulting in a large windfall for shareholders, one of which will, of course, be the university itself.’

  There was a slight pause here as the assembled group took in the final details of the presentation. Both Matt and Brett felt that it had gone well. They fielded a range of questions from the group and were able to provide further details using some slides they’d kept in reserve. It was a much more interactive session than either had expected and by the end they’d not receive any negative comments but of course, the deal wasn’t signed yet. They’d not stated their fees to the wider audience, this was for discussion with the senior members and Hilary who was representing the university as a whole.

  ‘Well thank you, I’m sure you will join with me in thanking our visitors in the usual way,’ and there was a quick round of reserved applause. Professor Plumpton looked energised and very happy after the recent presentation. ‘I think it’s now an appropriate time for the research chemists to leave us and carry on their good work in the laboratories.’

  There was a shuffling of chairs as Pat and Dan got up to leave. The remaining group took the opportunity to have refreshments, most opting for the bottled water on the table at the side. Brett went over to Matt and winked at him. It was as if to say, “It’s in the bag, mate,” they both felt it had been a very successful and hopefully lucrative morning.

  **

  Over the other side of Persford another meeting was taking place in much less salubrious surroundings between two people with much lower academic qualifications, if any.

  Petty criminal and drug dealer Wayne Roberts had been waiting for almost an hour in a small dingy cafe, Ozzy’s Diner, for his supplier to arrive. Despite numerous stays at Her Majesty’s pleasure, his attempts to stay within the law had never lasted long. With no qualifications he was destined for a low paid menial job which barely allowed him to exist never mind have any sort of life. It had been so easy to lapse into his old ways, handling stolen goods and drug dealing to the lucrative student market.

  He’d tried to make his cup of strong tea containing three sugars last as long as possible and had decided to splash out on another cup to keep the aggressive looking owner happy. Finally a text arrived from his colleague, known only as RB that he was on his way. Wayne wished he’d brought something to read but reading wasn’t his strong point and he found that staring at the print gave him a headache. He could only understand a few simple sentences so what was the point of buying a paper?

  The door opened and in strode RB dressed in his usual black jacket with tracksuit bottoms and trainers. He immediately saw Wayne and swaggered over in his usual gangster rolling gait. He pulled out a chair and sat down heavily with his legs splayed out wide.

  Wayne smiled nervously.

  ‘Tea, please, as it’s your round,’ said RB smirking.

  ‘Oh, right, coming up,’ said Wayne. He just bought a cup for RB, he couldn’t face another for himself as his bladder was already feeling full with the two mugs he’d already consumed.

  ‘Great stuff,’ said RB. ‘How’s it going then?’

  ‘Oh, well, steady,’ said Wayne.

  ‘Well, I’ll just finish my tea and then we can take a stroll.’

  ‘Right-ho,’ said Wayne. Despite being acquainted with RB for a while, Wayne found conversation difficul
t. The young man sitting opposite had a menacing appearance and was clearly not someone to mess with. The hands encircling his mug bore large rings which could no doubt do some damage if they made contact with someone’s features. If Wayne had been given a choice he would never have become involved with RB but one thing had led to another and when his previous supplier had disappeared off the scene Wayne had found that he’d had little choice but to transfer his custom to RB. As was the normal routine, RB finished his drink and left the cafe. Wayne said goodbye and then remained seated for a couple of minutes before he too left and joined Wayne down a secluded alleyway where the transaction was conducted.

  ‘How many bags?’ asked RB.

  ‘I’ll take five of the usual and ten of the half bags,’ said Wayne. The bags were one gram and half gram bags. Wayne handed over three hundred pounds. He would hope to make at least a hundred pounds profit on this batch, although he was thinking of putting his prices up a little. Wayne usually managed to off load this amount on a weekly basis so it was a nice addition to his benefits and other casual jobs.

  ‘Is that all? Come on, business can’t be that bad?’

  ‘Look, I can’t buy much more from you, I don’t have the readies, I’m not made of money.’

  ‘I’m just saying, there’s much more where that came from. I’ve got a big supply at the moment. You need to try to increase your customer base a bit.’