One of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, the Swiss multinational Novartis traces its history and that of its predecessor companies back to the first dye factories in Basel in the early 19th century.This second edition of the company's history covers early exports and expansion abroad, the unparalleled upsurge of the chemical industry in Basel during the First World War and then the emergence of pharmaceuticals in the interwar years. The enormous challenges of the Second World War were followed by an economic boom in the 1950s and 60s, the merger of CIBA and Geigy, the numerous diversifications in the 1970s and 80s, the merger of Ciba and Sandoz to found Novartis, and finally the first 25 years of Novartis. Those 25 years have included innovations in pharmaceuticals and medicine, and game-changing technologies such as the modification of T-cells.In addition to the running text, fifteen thematic articles outline the company's widely different innovations: from CIBA's early hormone preparations to the outstanding graphic design of Geigy Design, from revolutionary drugs like Sandimmune or Gleevec right through to the Novartis Campus project.
The Swiss pharmaceutical industry is world-famous, and of today's top five global pharmaceutical businesses, two are Swiss - Roche and Novartis. Novartis was created in 1996 from a merger between three other major companies, Ciba, Geigy and Sandoz (the merger was the biggest ever in business history worldwide up to that point), but despite being a relatively new name, it is rooted in over 150 years of history. Focusing on the emergence of Novartis, this authoritative book is also the fascinating story of how Switzerland's pharmaceutical industry grew out of early dye-production for textiles in the mid nineteenth century, scored major triumphs with the introduction of products such as DDT and Valium in the twentieth century, and developed into the far-reaching international healthcare providers of today.
The book reviews the history of the formation and success of Ciba, Geigy and Sandoz. The book reviews the acquisitions, joint ventures, mergers and divestitures of Ciba-Geigy and Ciba Specialty Chemi-cals. The result of being a "White Knight" and not doing proper due diligence had dire consequences for the acquir-ing company such as Ciba Specialty Chemicals.
This book explores the possibility that life exists on Mars. It provides an interdisciplinary overview of the early evolution of life in hydrothermal ecosystems on Earth, focusing on the problem of remote sensing and incorporating geological work relevant to the search for evidence of early life on Earth and Mars. It discusses the belief that studying thermal spring deposits as part of this search may be the best opportunity to test whether life on earth is a "unique experiment," or whether there is life elsewhere in the solar system.
If you believe that the latest blockbuster medication is worth a premium price over your generic brand, or that doctors have access to all the information they need about a drug’s safety and effectiveness each time they write a prescription, Dr. Jerry Avorn has some sobering news. Drawing on more than twenty-five years of patient care, teaching, and research at Harvard Medical School, he shares his firsthand experience of the wide gap in our knowledge of the effectiveness of one medication as compared to another. In Powerful Medicines, he reminds us that every pill we take represents a delicate compromise between the promise of healing, the risk of side effects, and an increasingly daunting price. The stakes on each front grow higher every year as new drugs with impressive power, worrisome side effects, and troubling costs are introduced. This is a comprehensive behind-the-scenes look at issues that affect everyone: our shortage of data comparing the worth of similar drugs for the same condition; alarming lapses in the detection of lethal side effects; the underuse of life-saving medications; lavish marketing campaigns that influence what doctors prescribe; and the resulting upward spiral of costs that places vital drugs beyond the reach of many Americans. In this engagingly written book, Dr. Avorn asks questions that will interest every consumer: How can a product judged safe by the Food and Drug Administration turn out to have unexpectedly lethal side effects? Why has the nation’s drug bill been growing at nearly 20 percent per year? How can physicians and patients pick the best medication in its class? How do doctors actually make their prescribing decisions, and why do those decisions sometimes go wrong? Why do so many Americans suffer preventable illnesses and deaths that proper drug use could have averted? How can the nation gain control over its escalating drug budget without resorting to rationing or draconian governmental controls? Using clinical case histories taken from his own work as a practitioner, researcher, and advocate, Dr. Avorn demonstrates the impressive power of the well-conceived prescription as well as the debacles that can result when medications are misused. He describes an innovative program that employs the pharmaceutical industry’s own marketing techniques to reduce use of some of the most overprescribed and overpriced products. Powerful Medicines offers timely and practical advice on how the nation can improve its drug-approval process, and how patients can work with doctors to make sure their prescriptions are safe, effective, and as affordable as possible. This is a passionate and provocative call for action as well as a compelling work of clear-headed science.
From his birth in a village in Andhra to founding and running Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, now one of India’s largest pharmaceutical enterprises, Dr K. Anji Reddy’s journey makes for an inspiring story. That story is told rivetingly in his own words in his memoir, An Unfinished Agenda. Dr Anji Reddy became an entrepreneur at a time when India was woefully short of technology to manufacture many basic medicines. Then, in barely three decades, the Indian pharmaceutical industry had grown to the point that India not only became self-sufficient in medicine, but also a supplier of affordable generic medicines to the world. Dr Anji Reddy provides a ringside view of this remarkable transformation, with fascinating anecdotes about those who made it happen. The history of modern medicine is a gripping story of triumphs and failures. An Unfinished Agenda takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of the science of medicine over the last hundred years and reminds us of the stark challenges that remain.
This book brings together an international group of experts on dengue and related flaviviruses to examine, critically, current knowledge regarding the dengue virus, the host response and the pathogenesis of dengue haemorrhagic fever and to explore the opportunities to develop new treatments. Issues addressed include the molecular biology of the dengue virus with particular emphasis on its structure and function and on the targeting of virus proteins by potential anti-viral agents. The interaction of the dengue virus with host target cells and the specific receptors on these cells is reviewed. Finally, the book outlines the options for treatment of dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever, paying particular attention to ways in which vector, host and environment can play a critical role in the spread of this disease. A unique feature of this series is the in-depth discussion sections at the end of each chapter: these record the questions, comments and opinions of the experts in the field concerning all areas of research into dengue viruses and potential treatments.
More than 1 in 7 American children get diagnosed with ADHD - three times what experts have said is appropriate - meaning that millions of kids are misdiagnosed and taking medications such as Adderall or Concerta for a psychiatric condition they probably do not have. The numbers rise every year. And still, many experts and drug companies deny any cause for concern. In fact, they say that adults and the rest of the world should embrace ADHD and that its medications will transform their lives. -- Provided by publisher.
