The Antidote: Inside the World of New Pharma by Barry Werth


The Antidote: Inside the World of New Pharma
MOBI The Antidote: Inside the World of New Pharma
By Barry Werth
ISBN 1451655665
ISBN-13 9781451655667
Publication 05 October 2025
Number of Pages 448
Format Type Hardcover

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And negotiating licensing deals with other companies in exchange for cash upfront to keep afloat a modest deal with non profit Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to develop a new cystic fibrosis treatment will play an important part of Vertex s story Part 2 sees reshuffling of the executive team amidst difficulties in finding a viable lead compound for Hep C Partners such as Novartis and Eli Lilly pass on candidates as too difficult to formulate or shift focus to different mechanisms of action One bright spot is Vertex s discovery of a potentially ground breaking treatment for cystic fibrosis. The antidote book karen russell Part 3 recounts the race to FDA approval and commercialization of an interferon free hepatitis C treatment in the face of established competitors Merck.

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This is probably how it feels to run an early stage life sciences start up wooing investment on an unproven idea with little certainty on efficacy or toxicology trying to stay afloat while keeping investors satisfied without turning a profit for a decade or figuring out when to march on or pivot business strategy in the face of obstacles attracting and retaining talent even while they clash behind the scenes and waiting to catch a break even while planning for the following decade to sustain a yet unseen profitability Vertex s momentum in Part 2 and view of the finish line in Part 3 required persevering through doubts that often than not kill a company This insider s account of the uncertainty and challenges facing the pharma biotech C suite especially start ups is the book s strength For example.

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As someone embedded in the healthcare business ecosystem this book is a must read Great view inside the development and maturation of a biopharma company and what it takes to bring a drug to market 9781451655667 I am writing this review in 2020 The 1 topic around the world this year is a pandemic This can be broken into sub topics such as who has had it what is the infection survival rate What is my other government doing about it and when will there be an effective treatment cure vaccine Those that are interested in a high level look at just what it takes from a scientific and business side at addressing the last question are encouraged to go back a few years and read The Antidote by Barry Werth In The Antidote Mr Werth follows the history and fortunes ups and downs of Massachusetts based pharmaceutical company Vertex The potential rewards of an effective treatment for a disease can be incredibly lucrative However the up front costs are enormous Scientists must prove to their management that they have a promising lead on a new medical development Those same scientists and their associates or those replacing them must perform a significant amount of research and test upon test upon test in order to prove that the treatment is effective AND to prove that the potential side effects have been identified without them being worse than the disease that they are attempting to cure Then there s the government documentation of every step of the way must be prepared in accordance to strict standards Finally they MAY approve it That all takes time. The antidote podcast Other parties do not WANT things being done slowly and meticulously Financiers whether stockholders bondholders investment firms or banks want as large a return on their investment as quickly as possible Those afflicted with whatever disease is being investigated certainly do not want to wait for a cure either in many cases they don t have the TIME to wait The Antidote takes an in depth look at all aspects of the forces at work to bring a drug to market For those who are not as into one of the aspects and pressures of this kind of research the corresponding sections of the book may seem drawn out perhaps even boring However those with an interest or those with an open mind will find this incredibly interesting and educational. The antidote explosive truth RATING 4 stars 9781451655667 Biopharma is a fascinating subject and the book follows Vertex one of the success stories in the industry The author has inside access and it s his second book about Vertex the first received universal praise though I haven t read it. Ebook antidote This book follows two new drugs of Vertex from inception to launch and the biggest drawback for me is that the science discovery part is brushed aside for the mundane business part of the process If you want to learn about the medical science achievements of the last 20 years look elsewhere Also the book seems rushed often reading like a loose set of notes than a coherent piece of work That guy did this this guy remember that this guy left and that was fired And here is a copy paste from the founder s blog Yeah not the best in class narration You sort of feel relieved finding out that almost 50% of the book is taken up by appendices and indices. The antidotes power up review Still the subject matter is irresistible and the book does make you hunger for so I ll try to read the book on Genentech next 9781451655667 A bit repetitive if you know the industry well but very very helpful history and background 9781451655667 This sequel to Billion Dollar Molecule is another great read about how new drugs get from bench to bedside The two together are must reads for anyone who works in biopharma or is considering entering the industry 9781451655667 hardcover with dust jacket The Antidote Inside the World of New Pharma The Antidote is a follow up to The Billion Dollar Molecule 1993 and if you ve enjoyed that excellent book it may seem werth while to find out what happens when Vertex Pharmaceuticals Corporation finally launches its two drugs that were than 20 years in the making. Why does my kindle die so fast However the first two thirds of the book were a disappointment Although it does provide a bridge from 1993 to the company s long awaited success in the marketplace Mr Werth s account of the undoubtedly hard work leading up to launch of Incivek as the first effective Hepatitis C treatment in 2011 and that of Kalydeco to improve the lives of a subset of Cystic Fibrosis suffers in 2012 is a dry record of corporate comings and goings leavened with very little in the way of insight drama or analysis The writing is competent but not up to the standard of his earlier book. The antidote for anxiety joel osteen Takeaways 90% of the value in reading this comes in the last third beginning with the Incivek launch skip to that part if you value your time Mostly this is a long boring Wikipedia entry about Vertex Pharmaceuticals Corporation Dumb title Grandiose and it s never clear which of Vertex s two drugs is referred to Neither one strictly speaking can be called an antidote since one kills viruses and the other administers therapy for a genetic flaw The small contributions of money and enthusiasm made by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation beginning in the 1990s did in fact pay big dividends both for disease sufferers and for Vertex and its stockholders Werth spends a lot if ink saying that Vertex is special but never seems to come to grips with whether it is or not or show why it should be considered as such Jeff Boger s two page vision for the future quoted at the end comes across as a preposterous fantasy ipso facto preposterous fantasies can help build important companies Science is hard work cf Edison Invention 99% perspiration 1% inspiration as was conveyed well in the first book not so much in this one 9781451655667 In a previous book The Billion Dollar Molecule The Quest for the Perfect Drug Barry Werth followed Vertex an upstart drug development company for the first five years of its life In The Antidote Werth returns to Vertex after twenty years and tells the story of how Vertex was built into a full spectrum pharmaceutical company The company is different from other drug companies in that it was developed as a twenty first Century corporation with modern drug development methodologies and a unique philosophy The book describes the development of two important drugs one for Hepatitis C and one for cystic fibrosis The book interleaves details about the science the thirty or so most important players and the business I thoroughly dislike this book as it is so poorly written I have no idea who the audience is Is it for biochemists who work for pharmaceutical companies Only biochemists would understand the science that is tersely described at intermittent intervals in the book without any background explanations Is it for Wall Street analysts Only analysts would be interested in reading about every single up and down ride of the stock price of a single company for hundreds of pages The reader is given no perspective on the bigger picture The reader gets thrown into a story about the development of a drug by an upstart company that s great But while it goes through the development process details are thrown at the reader without any overall understanding of the total process Then the whole thing is repeated with respect to the FDA s approval process I simply couldn t see the forest from the trees. The anecdote for play by the rules So many characters are involved there is a helpful list of most of them in the front of the book that the book has little time to go into any character development I certainly could not feel for any of the characters. The antidotek ker One way to improve the book would be to have chapters with titles have each chapter describe a theme that frames the narration of the entire chapter In that way the book wouldn t feel like a stream of consciousness narrative Also what would really help the book is a pair of chapters with outlines even flowcharts would help One outline early in the book could describe the steps involved in developing a new drug A second outline later in the book could describe the steps in getting FDA approval Full disclosure I received a pre publication copy of the book from the publisher Simon Schuster 9781451655667 Topic Insider account of internal decision making scientific breakthroughs financial struggles and commercial success of Vertex Pharmaceuticals charting how the biotech company overcame various challenges in the late 1990s early 2000s in bringing ground breaking therapies for Hepatitis C and cystic fibrosis to market by 2012 Style Author is a journalist who had previously written The Billion Dollar Molecule which introduced Vertex as one of the first biotech companies to use rational drug design for discovery and development of new therapeutics This sequel picks up after Vertex had spent the better part of the 1990s pursuing various immunosuppressant and anti viral candidates largely driven by the search for an HIV cure Subject matter is steeped in financial research and commercialization terminology from Vertex s executive team Organization Book is divided into three parts Part 1 introduces Vertex s team and picks up with the company struggling to find financing amidst competition in HIV from larger players like Gilead and Merck pivoting focus to hepatitis C while keeping investors happy acquiring other drug discovery programs to bolster cash flow and the pipeline Gilead Pharmasset and BMS how Vertex s blockbuster Incivek telaprevir isn t enough to satisfy Wall Street despite 1 billion sales and market dominance in its first year and how the launch of Kalydeco ivacaftor to treat a far smaller cystic fibrosis patient population ends up the surprise savior of the company Takeaway This was a tough book to get into but started picking up half way through For one keeping track of so many characters introduced with unnecessary details of their appearance and CVs was distracting Part 1 is also quite dense with cursory overviews of complex immunology concepts to explain the Hep C competitive landscape and a disjointed narrative of how financing was secured for development of Vertex s many prospective pre clinical drug candidates The second half of the book was focused as Vertex s ups and downs eventually converged on lead candidates for Hep C and cystic fibrosis respectively In fairness Vertex s Hep C drug Incivek telaprevir made close to 1billion in its launch year dominated Merck s rival boceprevir with a 75% market share and was hailed for being made affordable for low income patients Yet Vertex s stock price fell significantly during this time in the face of promising clinical results from Pharmasset s next gen nuke nucleotide analogue Hep C treatment which later became Gilead s uber blockbuster Solvaldi sofosbuvir hailed as a practical cure for Hep C and so expensive experts predicted the drug could potentially bankrupt the US UK and French healthcare systems Vertex had an indisputable winner but in Wall Street s eyes had failed to make the right acquisitions early on to strengthen its pipeline in the face of next gen competition Incivek was discontinued two years after launch due to falling demand This tension between a hunt for a scientific breakthrough by very smart and altruistic people and the need for a business strategy in crafting a narrative for Wall Street s expectations is a theme that pops up throughout the book Early in the book Vertex is faced with difficult choices in deciding which research teams to lay off to deal with the reality of burning too much cash and the need to bring a product to market in a certain timeframe At another early point Vertex s share price rises when it decides to reward investors with a dividend while rival Merck s share price drops when new CEO Ken Frazier reinvests net profit back in the company s RD efforts to better prepare for the future I hadn t appreciated how confusing this balancing act between innovation and often fickle investors could be. The antidote longview wa specialized academics consultants institutional investors journalists For such audiences it has great insights that I haven t seen covered in such intimate detail in other books or articles though may require re reading a chapter or two early on It would be a stretch to say this is an accessible read for the average citizen to understand the challenges in making a new drug product and its impact Perhaps in the hands of a better writer it could have been as was done with cystic fibrosis in Part 3 the author could have expanded upon storylines of real life patients and how the new drugs affected their lives If you want to know whether this book is for you I would recommend reading the first chapter of Parts 1 2 and 3 to see if it sparks an interest 9781451655667 This book took me than four months to read which is something that has not occurred to me since high school There was something interesting in there somewhere but the prose was too bloated with extraneous detail to ever bring it out Instead The Antidote drones on for about 400 pages before coming to an sudden stop with the Marathon Bombings shoehorned in as an abrupt endpoint 9781451655667 My caveat to this review is that I am in biotech which is why the 4 star review Otherwise a 3 star book The Antidote sequel to The Billion Dollar Molecule goes through the years after Vertex establishes itself as an up and coming biotech pharmaceutical company It isn t as well organized as the prequel and often goes into painstaking details that breaks the flow of the book However this fully captures the amazing journey of Vertex and gives readers a realistic look into the world of biotech A must read for anyone in biotech or have a strong interest in the space Not really your typical read if you re just searching for another book 9781451655667

The Antidote: Inside the World of New Pharma By Barry Werth
1451655665
9781451655667
English
448
Hardcover
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The Antidote: Inside the World of New Pharma.

, The antidote live This book is a suggested read for most The rest will find a magazine article sufficient to satisfy their needs: The antidote oliver burkeman Overall I d recommend this book for someone working in life sciences biotech or healthcare generally e. The antidote by rk narayan pdf pharma biotech companies pharma reps physicians nurses health insurance or with a vested interest in understanding drug discovery and commercialization e.g.g