Book #13 of 2014 The Billion Dollar Molecule by Barry Werth Another gem recommended by Ashutosh Jogalekar. This book talks about the formation and the first 4 years of a pharmaceutical start up (Vertex Pharma). It is a wonderful exposition of both how the drug industry works and the difficulties that industries which are more long term in their product maturing and making money face. The book dives into the history of Merck (another large pharmaceutical company) and goes into clinical trials etc. It makes me weep to think how little we know about how these molecules work in our brain and how hard it is to not only design them, but to also test them. It sometimes feels like we are fighting these diseases/ailments as one would fight a tank with a knife. Highly recommended.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Apr 2014 19:03:39 +0000