“Where did it come from?” Candice asked.
Edward summarized the story by explaining the association between Kim’s forebear, the Salem witch trials, and the theory the accusers in Salem had been poisoned by a mold.
“It was Kim’s question whether the poison theory could be proved which got me to take some samples of dirt,” Edward said.
“I don’t deserve any credit,” Kim said.
“But you do,” Edward said. “You and Elizabeth.”
“Such irony,” Candice said. “Finding a useful drug in a dirt sample.”
“Not really,” Edward said. “Many important drugs have been found in dirt like cephalosporins or cyclosporine. In this case the irony is the drug is coming from the devil.”
“Don’t say that,” Kim said. “It gives me the creeps.”
Edward laughed teasingly. He hooked his thumb at Kim and told the others that she was wont to have occasional attacks of superstition.
“I don’t think I like the association either,” Stanton said. “I’d rather consider it a drug from heaven.”
“The association with the witch frenzy doesn’t bother me at all,” Edward said. “In fact I like it. Although finding this drug can’t justify the death o£, twenty people, at least it might give their sacrifice some meaning.”
“Twenty-one deaths,” Kim corrected. She explained to the others that Elizabeth’s execution had been overlooked by the historians.
“I wouldn’t care if the drug were related to the biblical flood,” Stanton said. “It sounds like an extraordinary discovery.” Then, looking at Edward, he asked, “What are you going to do?”
“That’s why I wanted to see you,” Edward said. “What do you think I should do?”
“Exactly what I already told you,” Stanton said. “We should form a company and patent the drug and as many clones as possible.”
“You really think this could be a billion-dollar situation?” Edward asked.
“I know what I’m talking about,” Stanton said. “This is my area of expertise.”
“Then let’s do it,” Edward said. “Let’s form a company and go for it.”
Stanton stared into Edward’s face for a beat. “I think you are serious,” he said.
“You bet I’m serious,” Edward said.
“All right, first we need some names,” Stanton said. He took out a small notebook and pen from his jacket pocket. “We need a name for the drug and a name for the company itself. Maybe we should call the drug Soma for the literary set.”
“There’s already a drug called Soma,” Edward said. “How about Omni, in keeping with its potentially wide range of clinical applications?”
“Omni just doesn’t sound like a drug,” Stanton said. “In fact it sounds more like a company. We could call it Omni Pharmaceuticals.”
“I like it,” Edward said.
“How about ‘Ultra’ for the drug,” Stanton said. “I can see that working well for advertising.”
“Sounds good,” Edward said.
The men looked at the women for their reaction. Candice hadn’t been listening, so Stanton had to repeat the names. After he did she said they were fine. Kim had been listening, but she didn’t have an opinion; she was a bit taken aback by the discussion. Edward had shown no awkwardness in this sudden and unexpected interest in business.
“How much money can you raise?” Edward asked.
“How long would you estimate it would take before you were ready to market this new drug?” Stanton asked.
“I don’t think I can answer that question,” Edward said. “Obviously I can’t even be one hundred percent sure it will ever be marketable.”
“I know that,” Stanton said. “I’m just looking for a best-guess estimate. I know that the average duration from discovery of a potential drug to its FDA approval and marketing is about twelve years, and the average cost is somewhere around two hundred million dollars.”
“I wouldn’t need twelve years,” Edward said. “And I wouldn’t need anywhere near two hundred million dollars to do it.”
“Obviously the shorter the development time and the less money needed means more equity we can keep for ourselves.”
“I understand,” Edward said. “Frankly I’m not interested in giving away much equity at all.”
“How much money do you think you would need?” Stanton asked.
“I’d have to set up a state-of-the-art lab,” Edward said, beginning to think out loud.