Blockbuster Drugs
Blockbuster drugs-each of which generates more than a billion dollars a year in
revenue-have revolutionized the industry since the early 1980s, when sales of Tagamet
alone transformed a minor Philadelphia-based firm into the world's ninth-largest
pharmaceutical company.
In Blockbuster Drugs, Jie Jack Li tells the fascinating stories behind
the discovery and development of these highly lucrative medicines, while also exploring
the tumult the industry now faces as the "patent cliff" nears. Having spent most
of his career in drug research and development, Li brings an insider's eye to the
narrative as he recounts the tales of discovery behind such drugs as Tagamet, Zantac,
Claritin, Prilosec, Nexium, Serouquel, Plavix, and Ambien. As he discusses each
breakthrough, Li also shows that scientific research is filled with human
drama-serendipitous discoveries, sudden insights, tense confrontations. For instance, the
author tells of James Black, who persisted in the research that led to Tagamet-and that
would ultimately win him a Nobel Prize-despite pressure from top executives to pursue
"more profitable" work. The book shows how research behind Prilosec combined
creativity, international cooperation, and luck-the turning point being a chance encounter
of American and Swedish scientists at a conference in Uppsala. There are also tales of
fabulous rewards-George Rieveschl, the chemist who invented Benadryl, made a fortune on
royalties-and of unjust desserts. Finally, Li shows that for the world's largest
prescription drug manufacturers, recent years have been harrowing, as many popular drugs
have come off patent in the U.S. market, meaning hundreds of billions of dollars in lost
revenue.
Table of Contents ;
Chapter 1 Before the Age of Blockbuster Drugs
Chapter 2 The Beginning of an Era - The First Blockbuster Drug Tagamet
Chapter 3 More Blockbuster Drugs for Ulcer
Chapter 4 Antihistamines as Allergy Medicines
Chapter 5 Blood Thinners, From Heparin to Plavix
Chapter 6 Conquest of Pain-Analgesics: from Morphine to Lyrica
Chapter 7 Lessons
Bibliography
Appendix
Index
224 pages, Hardcover