Good Pharma

Drawing on key concepts in sociology and management, this history describes a remarkable institute that has elevated medical research and worked out solutions to the troubling practices of commercial pharmaceutical research. Good Pharma is the answer to Goldacre's Bad Pharma, ethical research without commercial distortions that mislead doctors and patients. This extended case history of the Mario Negri Institute describes how a brilliant young researcher, Silvio Garattini, and a boldly imaginative philanthropist, Mario Negri, conceived of an independent, ethics-based research institute to develop better medicines for patients. It may sounds obvious; yet patent-based research usually develops minor variations. This book describe the Institute's influence on founding the WHO Essential Medicines List, nurturing the Cochrane Collaboration, and reforming European regulations to reduce commercial influences and increase transparency. The Mario Negri model for pharmacological research and policy offers an alternative to today's costly, wasteful drug development with few benefits for patients. A revolution is needed.