The $800 Million Pill
The Truth Behind the Cost of New Drugs

This trade book looks at the politcally charged topic of drug pricing in the United States. Goozner debunks the myth asserted by the pharmaceutical industry that astronomically high drug prices are justified by the costs of research and development of new life-saving drugs.

A university biochemist who spent twenty years searching for a single blood protein that later became the best-selling biotech drug in the world, a government employee who discovered the causes for dozens of crippling genetic disorders, and the Department of Energy-funded research that made the Human Genome Project possible--these engrossing accounts illustrate how medical breakthroughs actually take place. The $800 Million Pill suggests ways that the government's role in testing new medicines could be expanded to eliminate the private sector waste driving up the cost of existing drugs. Pharmaceutical firms should be compelled to refocus their human and financial resources on true medical innovation, Goozner insists. This book is essential reading for everyone concerned about the politically charged topics of drug pricing, Medicare coverage, national health care, and the role of pharmaceutical companies in developing countries.

Introduction
Part I. Biohype 1. The Longest Search
2. Rare Profits 3. The Source of the New Machine
Part II. Directed Research 4. A Public-Private Partnership 5. The Divorce 6. Breakthrough! 7. The Failed Crusade?
Part III. Big Pharma 8. Me Too! 9. The $800 Million Pill 10. The Future of Innovation
Notes Bibliography Acknowledgments Index