The Merck Druggernaut: The Inside Story of a Pharmaceutical Giant

Rating:
Summary: THE MERCK DRUGGERNAUT
Review: 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

Rating:
Summary: good writing, not exactly an "inside story"
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment
Review: I was expecting the book to start off with the history of Merck and its founding, then slowly progress through to the current modern day challenges.

The book was a slow read and gave very little insight about Merck,its people.

What I don't understand is why author spent so many pages detailing the modern day health government policy problems.
This was supposed to be a story about Merck.

Don't bother buying or even borrowing this book, it will leave you frustrated.

Rating:
Summary: good writing, not exactly an "inside story"
Review: This book suceeds in examining the pharmaceutical industry in general and it is a fairly balanced look at one company. Fran Hawthorn uses Merck as a standard to compare to other drug companies and even compares the present-day Merck unfavorably to the moral high ground Merck trod in the past. I think Merck employees were very careful about the information they provided, and there weren't really compelling stories about individual people within the company. The book made me wish Fran had written an expose instead of a dispassionate, although informative nonfiction piece.

Rating:
Summary: Merck ... and a lot more
Review: 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.