The hope for TGN1412 was to have it used to treat a rare form of leukemia. TNG1412 was an antibody designed to stimulate the immune system and, in doing so, fight cancer in a whole new way. It is simply meant to test the drug, initially at very low doses, to see how well tolerated it is.

Phase 1 is the very first step in the study of a new drug in people. This is a horrific tale of six young males who, in 2006, volunteered for a phase 1 study for a novel drug, TGN1412. Right at the outset of Bad Pharma, Goldacre tells the story of TGN1412. However, Goldacre’s cherry-picking of data to fit his arguments is inappropriate and infuriating to those who know something about the pharmaceutical industry. I agree that one of the big challenges that the industry faces is the need to be more transparent about its work and I have written about this both on this blog and in Devalued & Distrusted. In fact, he spends about one-third of Bad Pharma discussing this topic. Goldacre has major concerns about the need for more transparency when it comes to making data from clinical trials publicly available. “The tricks and distortions documented in these pages are beautiful, intricate, and fascinating in their details.”Īctually, the same can be said for examples that Goldacre uses to make various points in his book. On the book’s overleaf, he has the following quote: Ben Goldacre is now on a North American tour promoting his book, Bad Pharma, his expose of the pharmaceutical industry.

Bad pharma goldacre