The Billion-Dollar Molecule: The Quest for the Perfect Drug

USELESS

This is the book every business oriented person and MBA MUST READ. It covers subjects such fundamental as Innovation, Leadership, Finance, Mkt, Dealmaking, Geodesign, to name some. Excellent writing style. Not a chapter in slow motion. Already bought The Antidote.

Je n'aime pas le style de l'auteur, que je trouve assez lourd. Sa tentative de mêler histoires personnelles des scientifiques impliqués et histoire de la société est mal executée, ce qui rend la lecture assez lourde. Par contre aussi informé que complet sur les premiers jours de Vertex, autant que je puisse en juger.

5 Stars

Chronicling the rise of Vertex, one of the first companies to dabble in rational drug design, the Billion Dollar Molecule follows the brilliant Josh Boger as he attempts to become the next Merck. The scope of scientific context and the way in which the author weaves together various players is both witty and insightful. However I couldn't help feeling that the author's journalistic prowess obscured and glossed over the actual science that Vertex and its counterparts were performing. As somebody who was hoping for a sort of Elegant Universe meets the pharmaceutical industry structured within a compelling narrative, I was disappointed. The narrative (specifically the sequence of causality dating back from the 1900s to the 1980s) is brilliant, but the science, the real red meat of a book like this, is largely absent.

Barry Werth's book provides a view of the high business and personal risks involved in developing drugs. $ 100 million and much more are sought after to research and develop a drug that only has a promise and could easily do nothing or even worse cause harm. That's the business risk and the leaders have to put on a confident front and do whatever or say whatever to make sure the money keeps coming in. On the personal side many extremely bright and confident PhD/MDs battle it out to be the one that makes the discovery or get credit for it. Quite often this battle is in the same company between friends and colleagues who may not in the end remain as such. Much of it reminds you of high school but then again we probably never do leave that stage as much as we like to think.The constant use of molecule and target names and descriptions can make a difficult read but there is much more soap opera than science. One finishes the book wondering how we have come so far in medicine/pharmaceuticals but I guess the same competitive spirit that can so often get in the way of progress also can make it go further and its tough to know when its more trouble than benefit.