The Antidote: Inside the World of New Pharma (72 page)

(
pp. 299
–303) Interviews with Bo Cumbo, Matt Emmens, Amit Sachdev, and Michael Partridge. Julie M. Donnelly, “Vertex CEO Emmens Keeps Emphasis on Science,”
Boston Business Journal
, June 9, 2011; “Vertex Bolsters HCV Position with Potential $1.5B+ Alios Deal,”
BioWorld
, June 14, 2011; Brian Orelli, “Going for Seconds in the Hepatitis C Space,”
The Motley Fool/
Fool.com
, June 14, 2011; Gardiner Harris, “Federal Research Center Will Help Develop Medicines,”
New York Times
, January 22, 2011; Geoffrey C. Porges, Amrita Rahmani, and Aleksander Rabodzey, “VRTX: More on Cracking the Code in CF: Incivek Launch Early Signals Positive,”
BernsteinResearch
, June 15, 2011.

(
pp. 303
–7) Interviews with Keith Johnson and Ken Boger.

(
pp. 307
–12) Interviews with Michael Partridge, Matt Emmens, Ken Boger, and Josh Boger. Peter Loftus, “Vertex Hepatitis Drug Takes Early Lead over Rival from
Merck,” Dow Jones Newswires, June 29, 2011; “Vertex Reports Strong Initial Incivek Sales, Sees 2012 Profit,”
Wall Street Journal
, July 28, 2011; Adam Feuerstein, “Vertex Earnings: Incivek’s Boffo Launch,” TheStreet, July 28, 2011; Brian Orelli, “Vroom! There Goes Vertex,”
The Motley Fool/
Fool.com
, July 28, 2011; Bill Berkrot, “New Vertex Hepatitis Drug Shines Out of Gate,” Reuters, July 28, 1011; Geoffrey Porges, Amrita Rahmani, Aleksander Rabodzey, “Vertex: Q2 Strong Early Incivek Result Suggests Consensus Could Be Crushed; CF Gathering Steam, New T/P $82,”
BernsteinResearch
, July 29, 2011; Adam Feuerstein, “Dendreon: Parsing Provenge’s Problems,” TheStreet, August 4, 2011; Adam Feuerstein, “Biotech Stock Mailbag: Dendreon’s Aftermath,” TheStreet, August 5, 2011; Eric Rosenbaum, “Merck Hep C Drug Draws More Attention Than Job Cuts,” TheStreet, July 29, 2011.

(
pp. 312
–15) Interviews with Michael Partridge, Ian Smith, and Matt Emmens. For a survey of the federal debt ceiling “crisis,” see “Times Topics,”
New York Times
,
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/n/national_debt_us/index.html
; Damian Paletta and Matt Phillips, “S&P Strips US of Top Credit Rating,”
Wall Street Journal
, August 6, 2011; Partridge’s note to employees, courtesy of the author; Luke Timmerman, “Dendreon Wounds Are Self-Inflicted, Not the Start of a Biotech Industry Virus,” Xconomy, August 8, 2011; Val Brickates Kennedy, “3 Biotech Stocks Battle the ‘Dendreon Effect,’ ”
MarketWatch
, August 18, 2011; Matthew Herper, “Biotech, Where Winners Lose,”
Forbes
, December 21, 2010; Steve Worland, “Dramatic Changes in Hepatitis C Treatment Expected to Continue,” Xconomy, September 6, 2011.

(
pp. 315
–19) Interviews with Matt Emmens and Geoff Porges. Geoffrey Porges, Amrita Rahmani, and Aleksander Rabodzey, “Vertex—SCB HCV Focus Groups Point to Solid Launch, Strong Preference for Incivek,”
Bernstein Research
, June 23, 2011; Matthew Herper, “Could Vertex Sell $1 Billion of Its Hepatitis C Drug This Year?”
Forbes
, August 8, 2011; Christine Levoti, “Vertex, Merck Face Little Payer Pushback with Newly Marketed HCV Drugs,”
FT.com
, September 2, 2011; Adam Feuerstein, “Vertex Arthritis Pill Shines in Mid-Stage Study,” TheStreet, September 6, 2011; Ed Silverman, “Vertex CEO Chides Analyst in Front of Investors,”
Pharmalot.com
, September 14, 2011; Luke Timmerman, “Stirring the Pot Once in a While Doesn’t Hurt, and It Could Help Biotech Break Its Malaise,” Xconomy, September 19, 2011; Alex Philippidis, “Pfizer Edges Toward Lipitor Patent Cliff as Exclusivity Extensions Near End,”
GEN
, October 18. 2011.

(
pp. 320
–24) Interviews with Matt Emmens, Josh Boger, and Mark Murcko. “Innovation and Research: The Human Factor,”
Science Careers, Science
, September 16, 2011; Bill Berkrot, “Analysis–Vertex Takes Early Rounds of Hep C Bout with Merck,” Reuters, September 29, 2011.

(
pp. 324
–27) Interviews with Ian Smith, Michael Partridge, Josh Boger, and John Thomson.

(
pp. 327
–33) Interviews with Michael Partridge, Ian Smith, Matt Emmens, and Geoff Porges. Adam Feuerstein, “Vertex’s Hep C Drug Needs a Growth Injection,” TheStreet, October 11, 2011; “Pharmasset Expands Hepatitis C Trial; Shares Rise,” Reuters, October 10, 2011; “Vertex (VRTX) Shares Sink in Late-Day Trade, Volume Picks Up,”
StreetInsider.com
, October 11, 2011; Alex Nussbaum, “Vertex Shares Rise on Optimism for Higher Incivek Sales,”
Bloomberg
, October 13, 2011; Toni Clarke, “IMS Revises Incivek Drug Data; Vertex Shares Jump,” Reuters, October 13, 2011; Julie M. Donnelly,” Vertex Shares Rise on Hep C Drug Sales Tracking SNAFU,”
Boston Business Journal
, October 13, 2011; Adam Feuerstein, “Hep C Drug Updates: Vertex and Anadys,” TheStreet, October 13, 2011; Emmens’s cover letter to Vertex directors, courtesy of Emmens.

(
pp. 333
–38) Obviously, I wasn’t at the meeting between Mark Murcko and Peter Mueller, but I was party to numerous conversations about it over the following days and weeks, and I was present throughout the remainder of this section. Other sources include interviews with Mark Murcko, John Thomson, Jon Moore, Paul Negulescu, Eric Olson, and Chris Wright; Ransdell Pierson and Bill Berkrot, “Abbott Says Hepatitis C Combo May Be a Blockbuster,” Reuters, October 21, 2011; Peter Mueller’s R&D reorganization email, with permission from Mueller.