Customer Reviews

Drug Truths: Dispelling the Myths About Pharma R & D

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"I finished Drug Truths this evening. I truly enjoyed it. Associates and colleagues in the industry reading Drug Truths will be thrilled to hear Dr. LaMattina's informed optimism. They will undoubtedly rejoice in the pride of the mission to which he continues to dedicate his working life in their ranks and communicates so patently unapologetically in these pages. Dr. LaMattina's gift is not a only this book but a life spent in the service of his fellow men and women who have diseases and those who strive to eradicate and minimize human discomfort and suffering."

Richard Haffey
Author / Environmentalist

I had the privilege of working at Pfizer when Dr. LaMattina was in charge of R&D. They were among the most satisfying years of my professional life. This is terrific contribution from a dedicated and passionate scientist who knows what he is talking about and can talk about it in a way that matters. In a world in which it has become all to easy to find villians in every corporate corner of the globe, Dr. LaMattina reminds us that science and business can accomplish great things for humanity.

Here's the real truth about prescription drugs - finally! The problems we face today can only be solved when everyone knows the facts. Unfortunately when it comes to prescription drugs, we've only had politicized speeches and sensationalized books portraying an evil industry bent on higher profit at the expense of us, the unknowing patients. As a long time drug researcher myself I can say that this book provides exactly what we need - an authoritative description of the complete drug discovery process. With examples of real life drug research, the author effectively debunks the supposed `facts' we have been spoon fed over and over again and gives us the true answers to all the questions we should be asking - who really discovers drugs, why drug research is so expensive, why some experimental drugs can fail after costing the company a billion dollars or more, why the drug industry is so important to current and future healthcare, and many more. With the new policies on health care that Obama is proposing, the timing couldn't be better. This book is a must-read for anyone who is serious about prescription drug policy, and should be required reading for everyone in Washington.

Dr. LaMattina's admirable effort to respond to the abundance of misinformation on the pharmaceutical industry is so well done and so readable- I only wish that he had produced this 10 years ago. As a former big pharma researcher myself, I can vouch for the accuracy of the information and the descriptions of the enormous challenges in the hunt for new medicines. This book offers one of the best defenses that I have seen of an industry that is perhaps more so than any other, entirely reliant on improving the health and quality of life of humankind. Marcia Angell- read this book. I'll buy you a copy. And thank you, John.

Full disclosure: I work at Pfizer, where John La Mattina worked, and I know John and have admired him for the duration of that relationship. The pharmaceutical industry is criticized at a high level for a variety of purported sins. In this wonderful book, John La Mattina addresses each one of those charges sequentially. He brings forth rich examples, with enough detail around each one to bring them vividly to life. This book puts a human face on the challenges of working in pharmaceuticals, and makes it abundantly clear why each of the charges is so wrong and so misleading. I can vouch for the truth of what he writes; as a current researcher inside Big Pharma, I live every day the challenges and heartbreaks that John so accurately describes in his book.
No human endeavour is perfect, and the book glosses over some of the background information which would better contextualize the information for the lay reader: the many differences between synthetic small molecules and antibodies or proteins produced by cells in culture, for example. But for all the stuff that counts, John has it exactly right: this is a book that accurately and thoroughly describes what *really* happens inside a pharmaceutical company. If you want a concise book that will show you how tough this business really is, this is the one.
Bob Chapin, Preston, CT

If the author, once head of research of probably the most bureaucratic and dysfunctional drug company in the world views the future of drug discovery with optimism - especially after the debacles of dimebon and the NGF antibody - one can only conclude he is out of touch with reality.
A pathetic book.