How does a mere molecule-a chemical structure-become a drug? And, how do we know that is works safely? In a one-trillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry with high-stakes profits and perils, battles are raging every day to successfully bring a molecule to its birth: an FDA-approved medicine. In Medicine Wars, Dr. Makhdum Ahmed, an internationally renowned expert in cancer treatment and drug development, takes readers behind the scenes of the fascinating and sometimes cutthroat world of drug development. Today, the average person takes multiple drugs or supplements daily, and for those living with chronic conditions, even 10 drugs per day are not uncommon. Yet most of us are oblivious to what drugs do to our body, or what our body does to the drugs we take. Medicine Wars reveals how drugs work, the chemistry of diseases, how decisions are made by pharmaceutical companies, how new drugs are created and introduced to patients, and the long and challenging road to FDA approval. Along the way, readers meet the ingenious minds behind recent ultra-successful drugs designed to combat aggressive cancers like leukemia, lymphoma, and more.
