Andy Grove, the famous CEO of Intel, has spoken out publicly against the pharmaceutical industry. I’d like to comment on a few of his statements.
First a few words on my perspective. Before moving to biotech I actually had a stint in process development at Intel, so I’m pretty familiar with the industry and the technology. Now I’m in R&D in the biotech industry which, while not really the same as pharma in general, still gives me a good perspective on the challenges of drug development.
Mr. Grove is a very smart guy who’s been very successful in his industry. He’s not just a management-focused CEO, but an actual technical expert who’s made it to the top. My point here is just that he’s got a credible reputation for technical matters.
I picked the semiconductor industry because it’s the one I know; I spent 40 years in it, during which it became the foundation for all of electronics. It has done a bunch of unbelievable things, powering computers of increasing power and speed. But in the treatment of Parkinson’s, we have gone from levodopa to levodopa. ALS [Lou Gehrig's disease] has no good treatment; Alzheimer’s has none.
This is, unfortunately, a nonsensical comparison. Grove’s main point is that the semiconductor industry has made huge strides in 40 years but the pharma industry has not.
Continue reading ‘Andy Grove is mistaken about the drug industry’
I’ve been involved in a few discussions recently about stem cell research, and I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding, in addition to outright deception, going on in the public debates.
By way of introduction, I’m a Ph.D. researcher at a biotech drug company and I’ve been involved in research in academia as well. While I am involved in bacterial / mammalian cell fermentation, and not stem cells, I have a good understanding of this issue, and the technologies involved. It’s another example of attempts to politicize science, and politicize facts. The science says embryonic stem cells are the way to go. Period. End of story. If you think there’s a morally unjustifiable cost associate with those benefits then just say that. That’s an intellectually honest debate to have, and one that could be had in the public sphere.
Continue reading ‘Stem Cell Research’
There was an interesting article in the New York Times regarding the surprisingly large impact that the farm bill has on many aspects of life in the US and abroad. A pithy excerpt:
Compared with a bunch of carrots, a package of Twinkies, to take one iconic processed foodlike substance as an example, is a highly complicated, high-tech piece of manufacture, involving no fewer than 39 ingredients, many themselves elaborately manufactured, as well as the packaging and a hefty marketing budget. So how can the supermarket possibly sell a pair of these synthetic cream-filled pseudocakes for less than a bunch of roots?
Continue reading ‘Why does a twinkie cost less than a carrot?’