24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
difficult, fascinating, and compelling birth of a company, October 9, 2004
This review is from: The Billion Dollar Molecule: One Company's Quest for the Perfect Drug (Paperback)
This is the story of the first few years of Vertex, a bioventure that sought to create drugs that were constructed molecule by molecule - it is supposed to be "rational drug design". In exchange for allowing the company to check his work for accuracy and proprietary disclosures, Werth was admitted into the inner circle of the company, with both executives and scientists, for four years.
Werth offers masterful descriptions of both the science and the intricacies of the busisess deals. The work is similar to that of Tracy Kidder in "The Soul of a New Machine" and, in my opinion, of the same quality.
At the center of the story is Vertex's founding visionary, Joshua Boger, formerly a researcher at Merck. He reasoned that instead of screening soil samples and insect secretions in a hot or miss approach in thousands of petri dishes, he could design drugs atom by atom to bind to - and thus inactivate - molecules instrumental to the disease process. In theory, these drugs would be without side effects: because of the precision of the design, they would adhere to their target alone, allowing beneficial enzymes of other chem reactions to go on unimpeded.
Boger's first target molecule was FKBP, which he believed was a crucial agent of the immune system. By blocking it, he hoped to prevent the host's body from rejecting transplanted organs. While Boger was out raising money (eventually reaching $60 million), Vertex's researchers hunkered down to isolate and analyze FKBP, whose molecular mechanic remained poorly understood.
Unfortunately, what happened is a great example of the difficulties in marrying business to cutting-edge science: after over two years of pushing themselves to the brink of nervous collapse, Vertex scientists found difficulties with FKBP. Even worse, Boger's arch rival, a prof at Harvard, discovered why. The prof beat VErtex, Werth argues, because he remained outside the venture capital game and could thus concentrate totally on the science and could openly collaborate with them rather than hide proprietary results.
Nonetheless, driven and confident as ever, Boger turned his scientific team onto the new problem. Thru all of this, Boger comes off as a fascinating character: the son of a suicide, he is unshakably convinced that he can bend nature as well as the business world to his will. The reader sees what lies behind the herculean efforts of him and his team.
Warmly recommended as a rivetting tale of human endeavor that embraces the true complexity.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast-paced and Insightful, March 24, 1998
This review is from: The Billion Dollar Molecule: One Company's Quest for the Perfect Drug (Paperback)
I first read this book nearly two years ago as research for a novel I was writing. Recently, I turned to it once more to pick up a few terms and found myself reading chapter after chapter!
This non-fiction tale has enough twists and turns and drama to match any thriller on the market. An informative and engaging tale of a pharmaceutical start-up and the people involved. Joshua is interesting enough that the book could have been solely about him, but he isn't the only one. All of the players in this ego-driven mega-drama are interesting on many levels.
Who would I reccomend this book to? Anyone who likes a well-told story. A background in medicine is not needed, and neither is a knowledge of business practices. All you need to enjoy this book is a brain . . . and a night light because you'll be reading this book deep into the night.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book, vivid insights into biotech hustle, January 6, 1999
This review is from: The Billion Dollar Molecule: One Company's Quest for the Perfect Drug (Paperback)
A well-told, vivid story about real life drug development, executed with a sharp observer's eye and an even hand. Hardly a gushing account of medical miracles in the making, but by no means industry bashing either. Rather, an inside look at real people in a fascinating world. This book never quite got the critical acclaim that it deserved.
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