Andrew Marquessen
The original holder of the US Thorzone patent, from 2008 through 2028, UGC was originally founded during the gene-therapy boom of the late 1990's. In its earliest years, the company had few important discoveries of its own, but profited mainly by improving upon techniques developed by others, and speculating on patents. Through skillful trading and negotiations, UGC was able to become a significant - albeit conservative - force on the pharmaceuticals market.
With the discovery of Marquessen's Datura, the company had a genuine breakthrough on its hands, and was quick to make heir development available to the public at large. By the end of 2008, their laboratories had successfully identified the compound now known as Torzone; they immediately patented it, and began to seek FDA approval. In 2010 approval was granted, and Torzone was released on the general market.
UGC had not been idle during the two intervening years; by 2010, they owned roughly 53% (by area) of all San Corenzo real estate, and had invested (by one estimate) over 37% of their annual profit into research the problem of successfully cultivating Marquessen's Datura in the laboratory.
After Torzone's introduction, UGC became a clear market leader; never before had any consumer drug been in such demand. Not only did cancer patients now have a fairly reliable cure for their condition, but at-risk citizens now had a means to ensure that they would never develop cancerous growths of any sort.
Despite the fact that a single datura specimen can provide enough of the Torzone compound to treat a single patient for several months, UGC was unable to extract enough to meet demand. The bottleneck, of course, was in the datura cultivation: since it was (and is) impossible to grow the datura anywhere but on San Corenzo, UGC struggled to become not only the island's principle employer, but the island's sole landowner as well.
Much controversy has arisen from UGC's San Corenzo activities. Some claim that if the corporation had pursued the island's natural resources less aggressively, the People's Democratic Party would never have been formed.
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