The search for drugs began as soon as diseases appeared, that is, from the emergence of the human species. Through sheer luck—chewing, boiling, and inhaling—some Neolithic beings discovered opium, echinacea, juniper, and other useful substances.
Ötzi, the Iceman, the five-thousand-year-old hunter found frozen in the Italian Alps, was found to be infected with intestinal parasites and had tied to his pants a Bronze Age remedy: a parasiticidal mushroom. Today, major pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars in state-of-the-art laboratories staffed with top scientists to discover future blockbuster drugs. However, despite our best efforts to develop new therapeutic compounds, basic elements of drug discovery remain luck, trial and error, risk, and ingenuity.

This book is a vivid and enlightening account of the search for new medicines from our Neolithic ancestors to today's professionals, and from quinine and aspirin to Viagra, Prozac, and Lipitor. Its chapters narrate with rare narrative liveliness how new drugs are discovered in practice, the strategies for their development, the mistakes, and the rare successes of drug hunters from many countries around the world.
Dr. Donald R. Kirsch has infused here the rich experience from his long career in drug hunting, whether searching for life-saving molecules in the mudflats of Chesapeake Bay or leading research teams at some of the largest pharmaceutical companies.