Triumph of the Heart : The Story of Statins

Parke-Davis was not the first drug company to put a statin on the market (Merck was), but it was the one to do it the best, with Lipitor (atorva statin). When Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals in Ann Arbor, Michigan, began to look for its own statin in 1982, it was late in the game. Parke-Davis’s Lipitor was discovered in the mid- to late 1980s and brought to market in 1997. Already ahead of it were four statins: Merck’s Mevacor was released in September 1987 and Zocor in December 1991, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Pravachol in October 1991, and Sandoz’s Lescol in March 1994. Despite the competition, by 2006 Lipitor had become the best-selling drug in history, with one-year sales totaling $12.9 billion, more than the net worth of the 10th biggest drug company in the world. Although the drug firm Parke-Davis had in recent times been relegated to history books, half a century ago, Parke, Davis and Company once enjoyed the status of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in the world. In 1866, 38-year-old Hervey C. Parke, a businessman, and Samuel P. Duffield, a chemist and physician, founded Duffield, Parke & Company— Manufacturing Chemists in Detroit, Michigan. Duffield originally studied under the father of organic chemistry, Justus von Liebig, at the University of Giessen in Germany. He continued to pursue his academic interests even after the founding of the company and published several articles in the American Journal of Pharmacy. In 1867, 22-year-old George S. Davis joined the company as the firm’s first salesman. Four years later, Parke and Davis bought out Duffield’s shares of the company. In November 1871, Parke, Davis & Company was born, with Parke as the president and Davis as the general manager. The company’s inventory was typical of the time: aconite, belladonna, ergot, spirit of ammonia, arsenic, and ether. Davis, a Napoleonic, small-statured man, was clearly responsible for building the company’s sales and its enterprise in many directions. He pioneered product promotion by publishing books and magazines, a practice later followed by many other companies. When vaccines were first invented in Europe, Parke-Davis was one of the first pharmaceutical companies to move into this new field.

Over 25 million people in the U.S. alone have benefited from statins—such drugs as Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor, Pravachol, and other cholesterol-lowering medicines—in preventing stroke, heart attack, and other forms of coronary heart disease. But how did these remarkable, life-saving drugs come into being? In Triumph of the Heart, Dr. Jie Jack Li, a medicinal chemist and expert on drug discovery, tells for the first time the fascinating story of statins. Drawn from discussions with many scientists involved in the discovery and development of these drugs, the book illuminates the human side of science by revealing the role played by persistence, luck, and sudden insight that characterize major discoveries. For scientists in the drug industry, health care professionals, students of medicine, and all those intrigued by the basic human drive to explore and discover, Triumph of the Heart offers a compelling view of one of the most important drug discoveries of our time.

Martha E. Stone - Library Journal

Statins-cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Lipitor and Zocor-are often prescribed to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke if diet and lifestyle modification fail. The science and scientists behind statins are the main focus of this latest book by Li, a medicinal chemist at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Although the author aims to strike a balance between a scholarly and a popular approach, chemical terms and structures are introduced without definitions or a glossary, and little context is given for each drug mentioned. Li also discusses Viagra, Zoloft, antibiotics, and antifungals but writes that statins would become "the biggest moneymaker to date for the pharmaceutical industry: nearly $25 billion a year by 2005." Unfortunately, that statement, like a number of others, is unattributed. The book is well illustrated with images of scientists (many from postage stamps). Chapter references are mostly from scientific literature. A more readable book with a similar propharma focus, though with less attention to statins, is John L. LaMattina's Drug Truths: Dispelling the Myths About Pharma R&D. Li's book is suitable for large public libraries and academic libraries supporting chemistry or pharmacy programs. (Index not seen.)

Prologue. 1. Cholesterol. 2. Genesis of Statins. 3. Merck's Triumph. 4. Discovery of Lipitor. 5. Development of Lipitor. 6. To Market, To Market. 7. Baycol, Crestor, and Drugs beyond Statins. 8. Reflections. Appendix. Trademarks of the Drugs. Bibliography and Notes. Index Cholesterol Genesis of statins Merck's triumph Discovery of Lipitor Development of Lipitor To market, to market Pfizer Inc Baycol, Crestor, and drugs beyond statins Reflections.