The Billion Dollar Molecule: One Company's Quest for the Perfect Drug Free Audiobook Download by Barry Werth


[Stephen Bowlby] narrates a compelling story of the pharmaceutical industry and how big business really works by detailing one company's quest for an "improved" drug. The book contains a lot of information about the drug industry, which is an area of interest for many readers.

The Billion Dollar Molecule is the true story of one company's quest to make a drug that would be used by millions and help millions. The company was GlaxoSmithKline and the drug was Avandia. One thing that makes this interesting is that GSK used an approach completely different than anything they had ever done before. They didn't use chemicals or traditional lab work, instead they relied on their own scientists to run experiments in their own garage and home laboratory.

Barry Werth's new book, The Billion Dollar Molecule: One Company's Quest for the Perfect Drug, is a fascinating story about how one company's quest for a drug to treat Alzheimer's may have actually caused the downfall of that company. It begins in 2015 when Barry Werth was approached by Alexion Pharmaceuticals with an offer of a $50,000 prize. They wanted him to research their drug lenvatinib and hopefully find something they could patent and sell making millions. Werth accepts their offer and spends approximately 18 months researching their drug and co-authoring papers with them. Unfortunately his research doesn't go well but instead it causes more problems than it solves. He begins to question the relationship he has with Alexion and wonders

American pharmaceutical giant AbbVie is not just a leader in their field. They're also a pioneer and innovator of biologic drugs, which they create using biology's own instructions and natural molecules, rather than traditional chemists' chemistry. So what makes a biologic drug so different? A biologic drug is one that mimics the body's way of producing its own proteins. Biologics can correct genetic disorders, fight cancer, and even stop or reverse the effects of aging.

To date, no pharmaceutical company has been able to develop a drug that rivals the effectiveness and safety of antidepressants. Many medical professionals believe this is because it's nearly impossible for a company to perfect a medication when the brain is still being discovered. Finding new treatments for depression is proving difficult but one company has set out to try their best.

The Billion Dollar Molecule: One Company's Quest for the Perfect Drug is a nonfiction book by Barry Werth. It tells the story of how a company, through great innovation and risk, managed to produce an inexpensive, generic drug — the pain reliever acetaminophen — that goes on to be worth billions of dollars.

Published Date 2021-11-30
Duration 18 hours 25 minutes
Author Barry Werth
Narrated Stephen Bowlby
Reviews
(0 Reviews)
Abridged No
Is It Free? 30-days Free
Category Science & Technology
Parent Category Biology & Chemistry, Medicine, Business Development

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