The Merck Druggernaut: The Inside Story of a Pharmaceutical Giant

As a writer with a strong interest in the pharmaceutical industry, I found this book to be an an insightful account of Merck's evolution, it's journey to becoming a giant on the pharmaceutical landscape and its subsequent decline in prestige (and value) as patents to its profitable drugs expire and obstacles to new drug development become insurmountable.But "The Merck Druggernaut" is more than Merck's story. This book provides a riveting overview of the ills that afflict the entire industry and its growing estrangement from the needs of people, medicine and the complexities of healthcare insurance.Fran Hawthorne's book is a must read for anyone interested in understanding how Merck fits into the overall picture of pharma's conflict between profit and corporate responsibility. Alice Shane

I was amazed by this book! A colleague gave it to me and it proved much more interesting and readable than I'd expected. Far from a business book, it is actually as well-written as a novel. It's provides a balanced assessment of this industry and reveals both it's positive influences and negative. It's also a book about much more than one drug company: It's about big issues that are really important now, like drug prices, the political clout of the drug industry, drug ads, etc. If you want to educate yourself and enjoy the process immensely, READ THIS BOOK!

I am a consultant to the industry. Ms. Hawthorne has done a nice job synthesizing the key issues affecting all big pharmaceutical companies. Her view is fair most times. She raises legitimate questions about some of the industry marketing practices. Certainly her views represent many consumer, legislative, and social critics of the industry.Merck, she portrays as one of the good guys in the industry. They seem to do more than most in developing first in class drugs and providing drugs for free when necessary for poor countries. They face business challenges, such as patent expirations, that may make staying one of the good guys more difficult. Her chapters on broader industry challenges are an excellent summary of the not so great times we are likely to see ahead. I find Ms. Hawthorne to be a balanced critic of the industry. She does not seem to have an ax to grind, but instead views the industry as basically good but with a profit motive that can sometimes taint the purity of the mission. In all, an excellent book that should be read by all those inside pharma or doing business with pharmaceutical companies.

Clearly lots of research went into this book. There's a great deal of information here about Merck and the pharmaceutical industry in general. The writing is lively and often informal, so it's an interesting read as well.

While Fran Hawthorne focusses on one company (Merck) and its travails, the issues covered are much wider. Ultimately all the practices of "Big Pharma" are determined by the forces of economics, the patent laws, and the very nature of pharmaceuticals research.An excellent read.