"Extraordinary Messiness"

Summer Johnson, PhD
January 26, 2010

Hollywood has taken up orphan diseases before--remember "Lorenzo's Oil"? And bioethics movies generally have been increasingly common, even just in the last year. Think "My Sister's Keeper".

So why all the fuss about "Extraordinary Measures"?

But maybe its the star power, maybe it's actually that it's a decent movie (although very few have said so except New York Magazine), but Extraordinary Measures is getting a great deal of attention as the father-turned-biotech startup investor-turned underdog against the pharmaceutical industry story has hit the big screen.

The only part that is of interest to me about this movie is that it has put a bright light on the path to drug development--and that it is anything but smooth and fraught with politics, financial calculations, and very little to do, ultimately, with saving the most vulnerable and sick among us.

For more click here.