Overview
This book offers a balanced view of the role of drug discovery in improving public health. The pharmaceutical industry frequently receives criticism for things like promoting unsafe drugs and relying on a broken and irreparable R & D pipeline. The author, former Pfizer president John LaMattina, tackles some of these issues. He addresses the progress that industry has made in improving its abilities to measure both risk and benefits of its new medicines, then tackles the issue of R&D productivity - the reasons for the drop-off and whether it is temporary or permanent. Next, he discusses where the industry should invest its R&D resources and, of the multitude of solutions being offered to fix R&D, which are of value and how a company should proceed in the difficult business climate that is now facing. Finally, he presents ideas for how the industry can rehabilitate its image.
