The Billion Dollar Molecule: One Company’s Quest for the Perfect Drug by Barry Werth (PDF)

Description

Join journalist Barry Werth as he pulls back the curtain on Vertex, a start-up pharmaceutical company, and witness firsthand the intense drama being played out in the pioneering and hugely profitable field of drug research.Founded by Joshua Boger, a dynamic Harvard- and Merck-trained scientific whiz kid, Vertex is dedicated to designing—atom by atom—both a new life-saving immunosuppressant drug, and a drug to combat the virus that causes AIDS. You will be hooked from start to finish, as you go from the labs, where obsessive, fiercely competitive scientists struggle for a breakthrough, to Wall Street, where the wheeling and dealing takes on a life of its own, as Boger courts investors and finally decides to take Vertex public. Here is a fascinating no-holds-barred account of the business of science, which includes an updated epilogue about the most recent developments in the quest for a drug to cure AIDS.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Amazon.com Review From test tubes to the Wall Street IPO and beyond, this is the riveting true story of a start-up pharmaceutical company working to create an anti-AIDS drug. Scientifically accurate, yet written with an attention to plot, timing, dialogue, and development of character more characteristic of the best thrillers. From Publishers Weekly A startup pharmaceutical company is the focus of this intriguing look at the nexus of biotechnology and high finance; features a new epilogue by the author. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review Geoffrey Smith Business Week A riveting tale that has more in common with a John Grisham thriller than with tomes on modern science.John Schwartz The Washington Post The inside skinny…a high stakes tale of adventure and intrigue: Barbarians at the Lab. Werth’s work is a gem.John Travis The Boston Globe Fascinating…gripping…must reading for anyone curious about an industry that promises to revolutionize medical care in the next century. About the Author Barry Werth is an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in such publications as The New York Times, Washington Monthly, and GQ, where he is a writer-at-large. Currently at work on an expose about doctors and lawyers, he lives in Northampton, Massachusetts. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐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.

⭐I read this book years ago, yet recall most of its details. It tells the tale of Josh Boger who came out of Harvard to start Vertex Pharmaceuticals, taking you in a captivating fashion through every delicate step from inception to maturity of this company in its quest for the big drug score.Having spent almost 18 years in this industry as a scientist and entrepreneur myself I can testify to its accurate portrayl of what it is like to start a typical therapeutic biotech. This book provides unique incite into the world of start-up biotechs and the risks that come with them. It even manages to scuttle through the many interesting dynamics of biotech personalities where primadonna scientific wiz kids meet bottom line suits with calculators and some hybridize into a combination of the two.If you are a potential investor, wish to work in this industry, or already do or even a patient wondering why your treatment/cure is not yet on market and want to understand more about the economics of biotechnology and drug discovery and development from the ground up, this is a must read. It will edify you and entertain you at the same time and you will end up rooting for Josh along the way.

⭐Barry Werth has revealed it all for the public – the inside story of the making of Vertex, a fledgling pharmaceutical start-up (which has now achieved much-deserved success and glory). Werth goes to the extent of discussing each individual’s feelings and thoughts (anguish) in candid detail. The story is an adrenaline rush; expect to reach for a few extra cups of coffee while reading this book. The main players are from Harvard, Yale, Merck, the best of the best and all workaholics to the extreme. As the story – the rush to the finish-line – unfolds, you realize that Dr. Joshua Boger, is truly a brilliant, gifted man – both a scholarly researcher and a precocious businessman with a fantastic presence of mind. What’s even more breath-taking is that the entire story is true – the toil, the sweat, the despair, the triumph. I enjoyed every minute while reading this book. I enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone who has a degree in the biomedical sciences.

⭐This book is interminable, fanboy writing. The jacket calls it “Barbarians at the Lab” or something like it. A less apt comparison, I cannot imagine. Anyone who has ready Barbarians at the Gate and is expecting a similar view into the world of venture capital, biotech startups and the then-nascent world of biotech will, in my opinion, be very disappointed. Mr. Werth is not a very good writer. He never met an adverb he didn’t like. It’s beyond distracting, and half the time I don’t even know what he is trying to say. There definitely could be an interesting story here, but this is not it. Mr. Werth never gets the reader invested in his characters. I never found myself caring what happened to any of them. He tells you that so-and-so is a genius and then just keeps telling you, rather than demonstrating and showing the reader what his characters do. And when he does try to venture into the science, he either understands it so deeply that he glosses over much of the explanation or his grasp of the science is not nearly deep enough and his explanations jump to conclusions without adequately explaining what he is talking about. Either way, he leaves the reader too far removed from a full understanding of what is going on, which also makes it very hard to care about the scientists or even keep straight which of them is which. Contrast that with the medical and scientific explanations in Emperor of All Maladies in which the science is imminently readable.I wanted to love this book. But it was a big swing and a miss. I will not be reading his sequel, The Antidote.

⭐A fantastic book. Extremely well written. I took an unususual interest in this book as at one point in my career I was doing research on plasmids; mapping the circular pieces of DNA that confer resistance to antibiotics for bacteria. The character vignettes in Mr. Werth’s book are extraordinarily well done. The author definitely DOES HIS HOMEWORK on this one. This is a fascinating investigation into the business and characters involved in a pharmaceutical startup; all the characters involved throughout the book are superstars in their respective fields – truly masters of the universe. Werth is Michael Lewis on steroids. Do yourself a favor and take an incredible adventure with The Billion Dollar Molecule.

⭐This is a terrific book that accurately, vividly and appealingly details what goes on in drug development teams and biotech/pharma companies in general. This by providing a specific example at pharma company Vertex, sort of an unofficial spin off of Merck. The cast of characters is made into bigger than life folks, with plenty of details about their personalities and intricacies. Is almost like watching a movie kind of reading. This because the book focuses on the people as they go about competing, buying, designing, inventing, proposing, modifying and testing in both animals and humans novel drugs for unmet needs. At times is a bit sycophant or at the very least very optimistic about the leaders of vertex, telling us how great they are, how persevering under any challenge, how visionary, and even how fantastic their parents and even grandparents were and so forth. However, even that contributes to a fun reading, albeit not entirely realistic.

⭐A good look at why drug companies expect large profits. Many people work around the clock to try to determine the bodies cells, chemicals, and reactions. These reactions are never guaranteed but if you want to become a chemist or biotechnologist this book is for you.

⭐There is no conclusion to the story of Vertex’s structure based drug design. The writing style is ambling and repetitive as if the author is just trying to stuff more pages in the book to justify it’s price. I won’t recommend this purchase you don’t get to learn anything of the actual successes of the company. Useless book

⭐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.

⭐

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