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by Merrill Goozner, 297 pp, $24.95, ISBN 0-520-23945-8, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2004

JAMA. 2004;292:2662-2663.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

This book presents as good an explanation of the process of drug discovery and development, written for a general audience, as probably exists anywhere in English. Written by a journalist and driven by a story-telling style, the narrative explores the often serendipitous and lengthy process by which prescription drugs wend their way from laboratory bench to pharmacy shelf. The book’s heroes are the obscure bench scientists who persist in their work for years and fight for their discoveries, sometimes against heavy odds.

The book also adds significantly to the emerging literature probing the politics of drug discovery, marketing, and pricing. In a series of case studies, Goozner analyzes the initial research and development, pricing and marketing strategies, and corporate and political machinations surrounding Epogen (erythropoietin), Amgen’s highly successful drug for anemia; Ceredase, Genzyme’s extraordinarily expensive drug to treat Gaucher disease; most of the current stable of HIV/ AIDS drugs; and . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Steven Findlay, MPH
Consumers Union
Washington, DC
findst@consumer.org

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