Drug Discovery: From Bedside to Wall Street

by Tamas Bartfai, Graham V. Lees

Overview

Everyone expects something from the drug industry. Physicians and patients, investors, regulators and administrators all have an active interest. Everyone wants to know what makes drugs ‘work’ medically and economically. Why are drugs so expensive? Is it the drug companies or investors who demand high profits? What governs the pharmacoeconomics? Why are so few diseases treatable?

Drug Discovery opens the windows and doors of the industry telling the story of drug development by using real stories from inside the process.

• Co-written by Graham Lees and Tamas Bartfai who has been involved in the development of drugs taken by more that 20 million people every day
• Opens the windows and doors of the most regulated industry in the world, the pharmaceutical industry
• Tells the story of drug development by using real examples based on current research and events
• Provides an objective, lucid account of the successes and failures, shortcomings and constraints of the pharmaceutical and biotech industries
• Gives insights into the development of new drugs to combat multiple conditions including cancer and pain
• Balanced, unbiased account of how better to translate basic science into drug discovery

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780080919232
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Publication date:	07/26/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Tamas Bartfai was a student of mathematics, physics, and chemistry before translating his skills into biochemistry, pharmacology and neuroscience. Trained in Stockholm University, Yale University, and The Rockefeller University, he is presently a professor at The Scripps Research Institute, the University Oxford, and the University of Pennsylvania, and an expert in medicinal chemistry and the neurological sciences. He has been working in the development of new medicines and vaccines for many years as a former Sr.VP of Hoffmann La Roche, and long-term consultant at Astra, Novartis and, presently, Pfizer. Eight of the drugs Dr. Bartfai developed are in clinical use and three are in trials. He has trained and collaborated with many scientists throughout his scientific work on the topics of fever, neuropeptides, and prostaglandins, while publishing over 400 articles in over 80 journals.

Dr. Bartfai has held many prestigious academic positions. He is a member of Academia Europae and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, a fellow of AAAS for pioneering work on neuropeptides, and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the Nobel Prizes in Chemistry and Physics. He was professor of the Karolinska Institute, which awards the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology. He has been awarded a number of prestigious prizes including Eötvös Medal for mathematics in 1966, Budapest, Hungary; Royal Swedish Academy’s Svedberg Prize for biochemistry in 1985 and Ericsson Prize in 1996; and the Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Award 2002.
Graham V Lees acquired his BA, MA and PhD degrees at the University of Cambridge. His postdoctoral work on the biophysics of ion channels was followed by a lengthy career in scientific, technical and medical publishing with Elsevier (Amsterdam), Raven Press (New York), Academic Press (San Diego&London) and TheScientificWorld (San Diego, Boynton Beach, Newbury&Helsinki). His scientific writing has been actively increasing, including contributions to the textbook Fundamental Neuroscience; co-editing with Edward G. Jones and Lorne Mendell, and contributing to Neuroscience to Neurological Recovery for the Society for Neuroscience (SfN); and co-authoring The Future of Drug Discovery: Who Decides Which Diseases to Treat and Drug Discovery: From Bedside to Wall Street with Tamas Bartfai. He is interested in politics and social aspects of drug discovery. He has a profound ability to translate complex processes and ideas into more simple English that can be widely read.

The authors’ previous book Drug Discovery: from Bedside to Wall Street, Elsevier/Academic Press, 2006, has been published in Japanese (Chem-Bio Informatics Society) and Mandarin (Science Press). Their later book’s Japanese and Mandarin editions are in preparation.

Table of Contents

Section Headings:
Introduction
Part I. Medicine for Society
Part II. From Basics to Bedside
Part III. The Business of Making&Selling Legal Drugs
Part IV. What Will Matter in Making Medicines?

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

If you have expectations from, or suspicions about, the drug industry, then this book is for you

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Albert I Wertheimer, BS, MBA, PhD (Temple University School of Pharmacy)
Description: The authors suggest that this book opens the door of the pharmaceutical industry for the reader to have a complete view of the drug development process. That is partially true since a great deal of inside information is provided, but nearly all of it already has been published in newspapers, newsmagazines, government reports, and in other media over the last decade. For a reader with no personal experience in the industry, the book offers a view not always seen of the various phases of the drug development process. I detected a certain cynical tone throughout the book.
Purpose: Some people probably see the research-intensive pharmaceutical industry as a gift from the heavens, a group of people who come together to end suffering, pain, and disease, while others see the industry as a gang of robbers who demand too-high prices and who conduct research only in areas where huge markets exist in wealthy countries, ignoring the needs of the developing world. The authors show us that there is a bit of both sides in the industry. Going beyond those issues are superb chapters on how drug products are selected or rejected for marketing. Similarly, there are excellent and informative chapters on clinical trials, biotechnology products, mergers, dealing with the FDA, and pharmacoeconomics, for a few examples. The book is needed because it takes an unorthodox approach to the questions and offers a superb collection of citations from the international literature.
Audience: It is difficult to suggest who the ideal readers are. Graduate students in pharmacy, public health, and health economics are obvious groups that come to mind. The book could possibly be a suitable primer for training new hires in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. It would not suffice if one were to read one book to learn about the structure and functioning of the pharmaceutical industry. However, if one was already knowledgeable about the industry, it makes an excellent source to use in testing one's opinions and impressions about the behavior of the industry. A wide array of readers would find the book readable and understandable, from undergraduate students to policy wonks, legislators, and healthcare practitioners. The authors are accurate in their assessments and would be considered credible authorities. Perhaps the biggest flaw in the book also determines its readership. It does not always present both sides of a story and therefore would be lauded by consumer advocacy groups and probably attacked by leaders of the industry.
Features: Probably, the most valuable features of the book are the explanations in simple terms of complex biotechnology and manufacturing and developmental activities undertaken by the industry. The book goes into detail found in few others. Most books about industry practices assume an understanding of those practices. Here, a relative novice may learn about economic pressures, pricing considerations, and political influences and find an in-depth treatise on the pharmaceutical market. Tables, figures, and boxed explanations are abundant throughout. The index is adequate if one is seeking an explanation of a specific term, process, or policy. It has ample citations and footnotes for those readers who elect to delve into a subject further. The book is almost exclusively focused on the United States, so readers interested in a pharmaceutical development in Europe will have to continue searching for the right sourcebook.
Assessment: I enjoyed this book. It was refreshing reading about these matters from a different perspective. The critical nature of the book, I would imagine, was intentional to play the proverbial "devil's advocate." This book truly caused me to rethink some attitudes and opinions I have had about pharmaceutical company behavior in the marketplace. It's nice that once in a while such a refreshing publication comes along.

Doody's Review Service

"Doody's 3 Star Review: It was refreshing reading about these matters from a different perspective. The critical nature of the book, I would imagine, was intentional to play the proverbial "devil's advocate". This book truly caused me to rethink some attitudes and opinions I have had about pharmaceutical company behavior in the marketplace. It's nice that once in a while such a refreshing publication comes along." —Albert Wertheimer, B.S., MBA, PhD, Temple University School of Pharmacy for DOODY'S

"[This book] is very readable and insightful. I am hopeful that many people will pick it up, and develop a better appreciation for what goes into making the treatments that everyone wants!" —Dennis W. Choi, M.D., Sr. VP Merck (2006)

"Anyone who thinks solutions to drug development are just around the corner would be well-advised to get this insider's views as to where the real problems lie." —Floyd Bloom, CEO Neurome, former Editor of Science magazine (2006)

"...a very informative and exciting book filling an important niche. Very easy to read, it encouraged me to think about several things." —Richard Nass, Vanderbilt University (2006)

From the Publisher