The Malthus Pandemic

by Terry Morgan

CHAPTER 7

  Less than an hour after checking out of the hotel that Anna and I had stayed in, I checked into a much plusher hotel overlooking the Chaoprya River and found myself a quiet corner seat in the hotel lobby. It was ten thirty and, despite the holdups I was still on schedule.

  I checked arrival times at Bangkok Suvarnaphum airport and knew the American Airlines flight had landed on schedule. That meant that my client would be arriving at the hotel, traffic being normal, roughly on schedule.

  At ten forty five, I watched a mini bus pull up outside. Those disembarking were clearly American and, although I had never before seen the Virex man, Amos Gazit, before, quickly recognised him. He was much as I had imagined - middle aged and slightly bald but with a pair of glasses hanging on a cord around his neck. He wore a pair of baggy beige trousers, a colourful casual shirt and stood slightly apart from his compatriots.

  For the Research Director of Virex International, Boston, USA, Amos Gazit looked every part the scientist. But he clearly had some business acumen I thought or, at least, an intimate knowledge of the company or his boss in USA, Charles Brady, would not have tasked him with this meeting. As the rest of his group dispersed towards the lifts, the American wandered across to stand amongst a forest of large, potted ferns. He put a small white bag between his feet.

  As I got up and walked towards him, he clearly saw me coming. By the look on his face, he seemed grateful that what he had been told would happen was actually happening.

  "Mr Capelli?" the American asked, lifting his spectacles onto his nose and squinting.

  "Mr Gazit, I presume," I replied as if I was Stanley finally finding Doctor Livingstone in the jungle.

  "Yes sir," the American said, "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, sir."

  “Shall we have a seat?” I pointed towards the corner where I had been waiting.

  "Sure.” Gazit picked up his white bag and followed.

  “Good trip?”

  “Sure. But far too long." He sat down and breathed out, loudly. "I understand you spoke to the President of Virex - Charles Brady. So what's the plan?" Gazit was clearly impatient to get straight to the point.

  "We need to talk more," I said. "The remit was far too vague and I didn't get long enough with Mr Brady. So, I suggest you get settled into your room, have a rest and meet me later."

  “OK,” Gazit nodded but looked hot and stressed.

  "Take a taxi to Centre Point. Seven thirty, OK? It's an Asian food centre. The taxi driver will know where it is." I said.

  The American nodded again. "Do you want me to bring the other stuff?" he asked.

  "Yes, of course. I’ll see you later.”

  Gazit started to get up but then hesitated. He delved into a shirt pocket, pulled out a business card and handed it over. It read Amos Gazit - Head of Virology - Virex International and listed phone numbers, a website and an address in Boston, Massachusetts.

  "Thanks," I said, "Sorry I can't reciprocate but I don't normally carry a card. But I can confirm my name is Daniel Capelli."

  And so, at seven thirty and on schedule I was seated on a plastic chair at a stained metal table at the back of a busy Asian food centre. I had a glass of iced lime juice in my hand and was facing the crowds walking by outside when, also on schedule, the portly American came into view. Still looking hot and a little disorientated, he was carrying a large brown envelope.

  Preliminaries over, I ordered two more fresh lime juices and then sat back. "So, what have you brought?" I asked, eyeing the envelope. The American handed it over but I put it on the table without opening it. Instead, I said, "Tell me more. How worried is your company?"

  "Very concerned," replied Amos Gazit. "The loss of a hundred grams of research material has been confirmed. All the in initial tests on the new treatment were looking good. Eight years of research, you know? Virex has spent several million dollars so far but we are still some way from clinical use. It's going to take a while yet and then a lot more money for approvals etcetera. But things were looking very positive."

  "So, where has it gone?" I asked. Having met Charles Brady in London, I already knew the answer that was coming, but it was worth asking once again.

  "We don't know," Gazit said at last. "We suspect an internal problem but, as Charles Brady probably told you, the company is in a difficult position. There are over twenty staff employed directly or indirectly on this project. All of them are skilled in their own way. The company can move some out but, at present, there is no evidence. Also, whoever it is probably has the morals of a rat. Unless we have real evidence, the company can't do a lot if he then decides to move his know-how elsewhere."

  Amos Gazit paused, clearly waiting for a response.

  "Excuse me for appearing naive here," I said, "But what sort of material are you talking about. Can you describe it?"

  "Put simply, it's a protein stored in a clear solution that looks like pink rose water - that's how I describe it to students sometimes. It is then sealed inside glass vials and deep frozen. We have pioneered a lot of work on modifying viruses under controlled conditions for vaccines and new drug treatments. We outsource some of the work to another company but they check clean and I know them well. Everything is fine until it gets back to our facility. Then something happens. Three batches of vials disappeared and replaced by similar ones containing nothing except a culture fluid."

  "And how many staff have access to the deep frozen, stored material?"

  "They all did. Because of the problem I've recently restricted access to two technicians only. Since then we have had no incidents but no company can go on like this Daniel. This is cutting edge biotechnology. Criminality is unknown. But there is big money involved. Big money. Charles will have told you I'm sure.

  "What can anyone do with such small samples?" I asked.

  "They could use it for some tests. You only need small amounts. Mix it. Dilute it. Inject it. They could probably treat about twenty patients with it and stand back and look at the results. Then, if it’s as good as we think it is, my fear is to suddenly find one or more members of my team, all of whom were hand-picked by me, resigning. I've never heard of anything like it before but anything, I suppose, is a possibility. If I have to put a figure on it I'd say we've already lost several million dollars worth of work. If we lose the technology as well it could finish us. Financial backers will get cold feet. Whoever it is or whoever they are could possibly retire on the proceeds of know-how. Chances are the know-how is already being passed on - God forbid. That's why Charles is desperate for confidentiality. Whoever he is, or they are, millions of dollars of work could be saved by bypassing our work. They could also be only a short time behind us on research and development if the insider has been passing on information regularly over the months."

  The American paused again and looked around him.

  Then he said, "I sure hope you are the guy I'm supposed to be talking with. All I had was a request from Charles Brady, my President, to meet up with someone with the name Capelli in the hotel. It sounded more like a meeting with the mafia to me. Anyway, this Mr Capelli would be waiting as soon as I arrived. I was told you were a Brit and kept a low profile as a mark of confidentiality and respect and that you'd worked for high tech businesses in the past. And that's all Charles Brady had to go on, too, as far as I'm aware. He said you had good references from someone he already knew and respected. Industrial espionage and theft of intellectual property, if that is what this is, is something I'd read about but never considered relevant to me."

  I had been listening intently. "I assume everything I asked for is in this?" I said, pointing at the brown envelope.

  "Yes, I dealt with it myself. You are registered as a delegate at the Conference on Virology and Infectious Diseases that I'm here for," he said. Then he added, "And in the name you asked for."

  "And there is a trade exhibition going on at the same time, I understand."

  "Yes, several companies involved in this re
search area will be there. Virex is not. We were booked but pulled out a few months ago, largely because we're already tightening up on our budgets. There will be companies in medical diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, laboratory technology, infection control and so on. It's an important conference you know. There will be also be a lot of international press coverage. Since the scares about swine flu and bird flu and worries about other new viruses cropping up the world's press love it. There is nothing like the warning of a pandemic to get the media excited."

  Amos Gazit drained his glass of lime juice, sighed and went on.

  "You may not know but you sure will hear at this conference about new viruses cropping up. It's partly due to improved technology that enables identification and detection, but, by co-incidence, I understand Thailand has had a few cases of something very recently. But nothing is being made too public at present. But, from what I heard, I reckon by the end of this week there is going to be one hell of a stink - a stink on an international scale. Watch my words.

  "Just like we need new antibiotics for bacterial infections - to treat superbugs and the like - so we also have an urgent need for new antiviral drugs and particularly a way to respond to the new variants as quickly as they appear. This is a key part of Virex's work. But it doesn't come cheap, Daniel. Years and years of investment goes in and just as we get close along comes this."

  Gazit seemed to be on a roll, The enthusiasm for his work was obvious. I just sat back and let him roll. It was interesting anyway and I learned a lot.

  "Did they tell you it was me who was credited with developing an enzyme that works on certain virus particles and upsets their replication? You know, it has taken six years of work to get this far. Most of this was spent in developing the techniques, we now use."

  "God damn it," he finally said. "I am a scientist Daniel. I'm not used to this sort of thing. It's wrong. It's immoral and I'm still shocked to think there must be someone working for me who is so lacking in commitment to the company and to me that he can do this. "

  "Are you sure it's a he?" I asked. I was actually feeling sorry for the American.

  "No," said Gazit, "I just assume it is. I am old fashioned enough to think that a woman would show a bit more respect and not be tempted to try to destroy their employer."

  "I wouldn't be too sure about that," I said, "But have you any suspicions about who it might be?"

  "No," said Gazit. "Sleepless nights? I have had a lot. But as far as putting my finger on who and why, no. I've watched, listened to, talked to them all without letting on I was checking them out - but no, no indication."

  I looked at the American with a tinge of affection for the man who was obviously deeply concerned about the company he worked for and personally very hurt by whatever was going on. He was also, probably, far more at home in a laboratory than in the hot, stuffy confines of an Asian food centre in Bangkok. Enough for now, I beckoned the waiter for the bill and said:

  "Do you think anyone, a person or a company, who you suspect of involvement in this will be at the conference?" It was the question I had wanted to ask Charles Brady in London.

  "I'm not sure," said Gazit, "We think that whoever is behind this must be big enough to be in a position to do something with what they have stolen from us but must also be total crooks. It can't be a big, well known, multinational organization. They would not dare work like this. Would they? If they want know-how or people, they just go in and buy. Money no object."

  "When I met Charles Brady, your president, back in the UK he told me something about one of your competitors losing key researchers. Seemed to think there might be a connection. Tell me a bit more."

  "Yes, Biox Research International - also with their headquarters in Boston. There was a lot of newspaper interest and even more talk in the industry when David Solomon their director of research, a British guy, disappeared just over a year ago. No-one has seen him since. He was well known for political opinions. He would rail against the power of multinational businesses and was apparently involved with groups that would attack G8 type conferences. Most of us wondered how the hell he had risen to his position in the first place. But he was internationally respected for his research - he was a leading expert.

  “Then there was the senior lecturer in immunology at Cambridge who disappeared last fall. He had worked for Biox and knew Solomon, in fact they were good friends from the UK. Name of Guy Williams. Clever scientist. He wrote several papers on viral chemistry. There have also been a few other resignations but we generally know where those guys have gone and we try not to get paranoid.

  “You must also have seen the press coverage on infectious diseases, problems of resistance to current treatments and the prices of many of these drugs being out of reach of all except the rich. This controversy is being fuelled by some University and Institute researchers who are against multinational pharmaceutical companies' ability to dictate prices of drugs. They want the funds for themselves. There is a lot of evidence that proves the point but the counter argument is that the big multinationals need the profits to fund research and development and only have short periods before patents run out. I see both sides."

  Amos Gazit shrugged as if he had discussed the subject may times.

  "Charles Brady had a theory about all this," I prompted. "Tell me your thoughts."

  "Yes," Gazit said, "Charles Brady's suspicion, and mine, is that there might be an organisation out there operating illegally and below the radar, trying to capitalise on the gold mine that everyone sees is there."

  Gazit looked at his watch.

  "I promised to go along to the pre-drinks session with colleagues back at the hotel. I wouldn't want them thinking I chickened out."

  "Before you go," I said, "Please tell me what you expect me to do. Charles Brady gave me some background in London and I know he clearly wants some investigations but do you know what he really wants done if we get somewhere."

  The American stared at me but I thought I knew what was coming. They wanted to know as much as possible but then they'd keep it quiet. I'd been here before.

  "Yes, Mr Capelli. Whoever you are or whatever it is you do, just keep it quiet. Let us know what you find out. I'm sure Charles told you that. We will decide what to do when we know more. We particularly don't want the media jumping up and down at the moment. We still need financing and backers can get very cold feet if they know that their investments are at risk. Keep it quiet Daniel. I am sure Charles told you that. We just want to know what the hell’s going on, then we'll decide."