Patient Number One: A True Story of How One CEO Took on Cancer and Big Business in the Fight of His Life - Hardcover

Murdock, Rick; Fisher, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0609603914 ISBN 13: 9780609603918

Publisher: Crown, 2000

Synopsis

How many victims of cancer have thought, "If only I could order up a cure"?

Rick Murdock could.

In an extraordinary book that proves that truth can be stranger than fiction, Rick Murdock tells the dramatic story of his fight against a deadly lymphoma that could only be treated with technology developed by his own biotech company, and the equally harrowing battle for the survival of his company in a bruising legal dispute with a multibillion-dollar medical products giant.

Rick Murdock was forty-four years old when he was named CEO of CellPro, a thriving biotech company in Seattle that was reaping the benefits of the biotech boom in the late 1980s and early '90s. Wall Street money fueled the flame of cutting-edge research at start-up companies like CellPro, where dedicated scientists were researching treatments that showed great promise in the fight against cancer and other diseases. But then Rick found a lump in his neck, evidence of the acute mantle cell lymphoma raging through his system. This rare form of cancer had no cure: Without a miracle, Rick would die.

At CellPro, Rick found his miracle workers. In a stunning twist of fate, Rick's staff was experimenting with a radical new treatment for advanced lymphomas, though the scientists were months, if not years, away from success. Knowing they were their boss's last hope, these researchers went to work on the experiment that could save Rick's life. If they were successful, Rick would become "patient number one," the guinea pig for a technology that had never been used on humans.
        
The thrilling race against time to save Rick's life is only part of this remarkable story. For while Rick was fighting for his own life, he was also battling a medical products behemoth named Baxter Healthcare and archaic patent laws that threatened CellPro. If CellPro was put out of business, the promising therapies it had been developing for victims of breast cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, and other deadly cancers could disappear. Patient Number One shares the intriguing story of how entrepreneurs and scientists came together to form CellPro, painting a vivid picture of how researchers work tirelessly to come up with new and better treatments for disease, while their financiers play a high-stakes financial game to make money from these medical endeavors. However, in the tradition of books like A Civil Action, Patient Number One is also an illuminating, often scathing look at how medical research is conducted in America today as the bottom line can get in the way of saving lives. Lawyers, politicians, researchers, executives, and investors all want a piece of the biotech pie and will stop at nothing to preserve their special interests, even if it means keeping life-saving treatments from the people who need them.

From tense courtroom scenes between the Goliath-like Baxter and tiny CellPro to anxious moments in the laboratory with Rick's staff and Rick's own agonizing cancer treatments, Patient Number One takes readers into the fascinating, frustrating world of medical research and how it directly affects us all.

About this title

About the Author

Rick Murdock earned a degree in zoology from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1991 he joined CellPro as vice president of marketing and business development. He is now CEO of Kyphon, Inc., a medical device company in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he lives with his wife.

David Fisher is the author of more than forty books. His best-sellers include Gracie and All My Best Friends with George Burns, The Umpire Strikes Back with Ron Luciano, and Conversations with My Cat. He lives in New York and Atlanta with his wife.

From the Inside Flap

tims of cancer have thought, "If only I could order up a cure"?

Rick Murdock could.

In an extraordinary book that proves that truth can be stranger than fiction, Rick Murdock tells the dramatic story of his fight against a deadly lymphoma that could only be treated with technology developed by his own biotech company, and the equally harrowing battle for the survival of his company in a bruising legal dispute with a multibillion-dollar medical products giant.

Rick Murdock was forty-four years old when he was named CEO of CellPro, a thriving biotech company in Seattle that was reaping the benefits of the biotech boom in the late 1980s and early '90s. Wall Street money fueled the flame of cutting-edge research at start-up companies like CellPro, where dedicated scientists were researching treatments that showed great promise in the fight against cancer and other diseases. But then Rick found a lump in his neck, evidence of the acute mantle cell lymphoma r

Reviews

In 1996, Murdock used an experimental procedure--which involved removing stem cells from his bone marrow, cleaning them with chemotherapy and radiation and then reintroducing the cleansed cells back into the marrow--to treat his advanced lymphoma. What made his case so unusual was that, at the time, he was CEO of CellPro, a Seattle-based biotechnology company experimenting with the very procedure, separating cancer cells from stem cells, needed to save his life. With the assistance of Fisher (coauthor with George Burns of All My Best Friends), Murdock dramatically describes how a team of CellPro scientists raced frantically to finish what they called "the Rick Project"--although the researchers calculated they were nine months away from refining their cell separation device, they were able to perfect it in just eight weeks. As Murdock began using these newly developed technologies to fight for his life, a giant multinational corporation was suing CellPro for patent infringement. Although a jury had unanimously sided with CellPro, the judge overturned the verdict, finding CellPro guilty. As a result, shortly after Murdock finished his treatment, CellPro was effectively out of business--and the device that saved his life was no longer available. Explaining both his own experiences and the complex world of biotech patents and politics, Murdock, now CEO of a medical-device company, makes a strong argument that progress in scientific research too often takes a backseat to business interests. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This book has all the makings of a novel: the hero comes up with a great invention, gets cancer, cures it with the help of friends and the invention, and then watches big business take it all away from his small company. But this is a true story, told from the viewpoint of the CEO of CellPro, the small company. Murdock was cured of acute lymphoma in 1996 with the company product, the Ceprate system for separating stem cells from blood. Despite the inclusion of a letter at the end of the book from Baxter, the big company, denying the legal and patent claims of CellPro, there was so much press coverage of Murdock's cure and the patent cases involved that this version of the facts is believable. If nothing else, the book will make people think about patent rules and procedures and the legal system in this country. This excellent book is highly recommended.
-Margaret Henderson, Cold Spring Harbor Academics, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

We were sailing on the edge of the wind, nine hours out of Nantucket en route to safe harbor in Newport. It was a day from a sailor's song; the sky was high and blue, the wind was steady, and if you looked far enough you could see beyond the horizon almost into tomorrow. My wife, Patricia, was at the helm, steering a course across Buzzards Bay. My oldest son, six-year-old Jamie, was down below in the care of my mother. I was in the cockpit with Patty and our four-year-old, Ben, trimming the sails and checking the charts.

We had caught the wind early that morning and never let go, sailing through the day. As the late-afternoon sun dropped, it cast a shimmering golden line on the surface. Our boat, the Mon Pays Bleu, a thirty-seven-foot Hunter, under full sail, was slicing sweetly through gentle swells.

There are on occasion perfect days at sea, days when the wind blows true and everything aboard is shipshape. When the world works. This was one of those days. As I began to trim the mainsail, I paused to savor the moment. The wind was at our back, we were riding the swells, a single shackle was clanging rhythmically against the mast. For a brief time I was lost in the sailor's reverie. I was filled with joy. I was with the people I loved most, on a boat powered by the wind and under my complete control. We were racing the sunset through deep water, in harmony with nature.

I relaxed. For an instant I had lowered my guard, so when I glanced casually at the depth sounder, I was stunned at what I saw: the bottom was coming up fast to meet us. I had mistaken beauty for security, the mistake that has doomed mariners since man first set sail. I had been lulled into believing I had control of the day. Patty was at the helm. I took a deep breath, turned to her, and said, "It's getting pretty shallow. We must be getting too close to the reef. Let's tack ou--"

At sea a lifetime can pass in an instant, or an instant can seem to last a lifetime. Nine tons of boat plowed into the submerged reef at about five knots. The screech of our lead keel driving into the rock was almost deafening. Within a few feet we stopped dead in the water. Around me, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. I saw Ben go flying down the companionway. When we hit, Patty's knee slammed into the steering column, but she never let go of the wheel. Below, my mother ran to help Ben. The boat turned and the wind started hitting us from the side. The sails began flapping wildly. Terror became the engine of my response.

I didn't think, I simply implemented. I did those things necessary to save the boat, to save my family. Get off this reef, I thought, we've got to get off here fast. If we were caught, the waves slamming into us from the side could break up the boat. I had to regain control of the boat. Our lives depended on it.

I turned on the engine. Miraculously, we floated off the reef. Mon Pays Bleu was free, but I had no idea how much damage had been done. I gambled that we would stay afloat, and motored toward deep water. Patty and I fought the sails. We practically dragged them down. That done, I leaped down the companionway and started pulling up floorboards to see how much water we were taking on. That would determine our next move.

The bay was leaking slowly into our lives. A small pool of water was forming in the bottom of the bilge. Mon Pays Bleu was leaking, but it was nothing the pump couldn't handle. The hull had held tight.

We'd all suffered minor bumps and scrapes, but no one had been hurt. When we were off the reef, I inspected the boat. I believed we were not in imminent danger of sinking. The only serious damage had been to my confidence. And that had been badly wounded. As soon as it was safe, I went below and turned on our radio. "Mayday," I began, "mayday . . ."

The coast guard monitored our voyage to safe anchorage.

Years later, when once again it seemed like clear sailing ahead of me, this was the lesson I should have remembered.

Edition details

• Publisher: Crown
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0609603914
• ISBN 13: 9780609603918
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320