Table of Contents Chapter 1: Seduced by drug discovery
Chapter 2: The small molecules of life
Chapter 3: Proteins: molecular wonders in three dimensions
Chapter 4. Proteins perform multiple functions: enzymes, receptors, ion channels
Chapter 5: Drug discovery and development: the road from an idea to promoting human health
Chapter 6: Finasteride: the Gary and Jerry show
Chapter 7: Basic research, snake venoms, and ACE inhibitors: Ondetti, Cushman, and Patchett
Chapter 8: Statins: protection against heart attacks and strokes
Chapter 9: The perils of Primaxin
Chapter 10: Avermectins: molecules of life battle parasites
Chapter 11: Fludalanine: nice try but no hallelujah
Chapter 12: Diabetes Breakthrough: Januvia and Janumet

About the Author

Dr. Eugene Cordes has served as Vice President of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Research Laboratories of Merck and Company and as President of Research and Development at Sterling Winthrop Pharmaceuticals Inc. In addition he has been a professor at Indiana University and the University of Michigan. He is the author of The Tao of Chemistry and Life (OUP 2009) and several biochemistry textbooks.

Reviews

"Gene Cordes gives us an interesting and uncommonly clear insight into the scientifically complex world of drug discovery, using common vocabulary. This is a great read for all who are interested in the pharmaceutical industry." -- Paul S. Anderson, PhD, former President of the American Chemical Society and Senior Vice-President for Chemistry and Physical Sciences at Dupont-Merck Pharmaceuticals
"Every new drug is a miracle. Cordes brings us up close to the stories of the discovery and development of a few of these medical miracles, patiently but briskly providing the basic technical background (...starting from "what is H[2O") before launching into the human stories of medical innovation in a masterful context of understandable and thrilling science. This book is a hallelujah moment." -- Joshua Boger, PhD, Founder, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
"Writing in a conversational style aimed at a broad (non-specialist) audience, Cordes explains the hugely complex, sometimes elegant, and mostly messy process of discovering and developing new medicines. Each chapter, or drug biography, is a tribute to the scientists - oftentimes just a single scientist - who refused to give up despite having to overcome manifold emergent problems along the way. In addition to the sense of adventure, this is information that
all should know." -- David Pompliano PhD, former CEO of BioLeap LLC, and Vice-President, Merck Research Laboratories
"This work, told from an inside master, reveals how drug discovery is changing dramatically and for the better...all while engaging the reader with humor and science, sagacity and insight, personality and precision. Dr. Cordes presents a wonderful picture of how good science is transformed into the creation of life-saving pharmaceuticals. A special book for the interested reader, the student, and the professional all wrapped up in one." -- Robert Darnell,
MD-PhD, President of the New York Genome Center