The reader of “For Blood and Money” is left with a nagging question. Is this profit-driven process really the best way to develop life-saving drugs?
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskNaturally, pharmaceutical companies—and, these days, venture capitalists and hedge funds—are always searching for the next wonder drug. Nathan Vardi’s new book is a fascinating look at the quest to develop a new drug for blood cancer that targets only cancerous cells and not the healthy kind.
“For Blood and Money” follows two small biotech firms in California, Pharmacyclics and Acerta Pharma, as they try to capture the market for a drug to treat chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. The technique involves inhibiting the activity of Bruton tyrosine kinase , an enzyme that regulates chemical signals inside some white blood cells. Mr Vardi explains the science behindThe corporate drama begins with Pharmacyclics.
A financial journalist, Mr Vardi knows the world of venture capital intimately, and is at his strongest when writing about theof deals. He delves into his characters’ backgrounds and recreates meetings and events in detail; the contest between Pharmacyclics and Acerta comes alive. His efforts to present the story as a real-life thriller generate pace, even if the approach sometimes feels formulaic.
The story has a happy ending. The race ends up producing not one but two cancer drugs, Imbruvica from Pharmacyclics and Calquence from Acerta. Both are effective and become blockbusters. The prices areAs, royally, do the backers of the two drugs. Mr Duggan’s own total investment of $50m in Pharmacyclics yields $3.5bn, Mr Vardi reports. Imbruvica, which became available first—marketed jointly with Johnson & Johnson—generated over $5bn in revenues in 2021 alone.
This high-risk method for finding a new cancer treatment certainly works. Yet the reader is left with a nagging question. Is this testosterone-fuelled, profit-driven process really the best way to develop life-saving drugs?
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