FYS Drugs That Changed the World

Written by a leading expert on Aspirin-related research, this is the most comprehensive treaty of the history, pharmacological effects and clinical applications of one of the most successful drugs ever.

Top Drugs: Their History, Pharmacology, and Synthesis provides an in-depth study on ten prominent drugs, outlining the chemistry behind each one's creation.

Having spent most of his career in drug discovery in'big pharma,'Dr. Li now delivers an insider's account of how the drug industry ascended to its plateau and explores the nature of the turmoil it faces in the coming years. He begins with a survey of the landscape before'blockbuster drugs,'and proceeds to describe how those drugs were discovered and subsequently became integral to the business models of large pharmaceutical companies. For example, in early 1980s, Tagamet, the first'blockbuster drug,'transformed a minor Philadelphia-based drug maker named SmithKline & French into the world's ninth-largest pharmaceutical company in terms of sales. The project that delivered Tagamet was nearly terminated several times because research efforts begun in 1964 produced no apparent results within the first eleven years. Similar stories accompany the discovery and development of now-ubiquitous prescription drugs, among them Claritin, Prilosec, Nexium, Plavix, and Ambien.