Bad Pharma

Description

Onward Pharmaceutical Labs (OPL), one of the world’s largest pharma companies, is completing the development of a new vaccine, RSVIX, to protect children from the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). OPL expects RSVIX to be their next blockbuster and hopes to capture a big chunk of the 7 billion dollar U.S. market. The final clinical study before licensure is a head-to-head comparison with RESPIRWELL, the currently licensed vaccine produced by OPL’s rival, Beamer Labs.

Siddhartha Kumar, the OPL lead medical monitor assigned to the trial, discovers that RSVIX is not performing as planned, and notifies his superiors, recommending they stop the trial and offer a dose of RESPIRWELL to all the study participants to assure their protection. When the company refuses to inoculate the trial population with the licensed vaccine, Sid questions the ethics behind this decision while continuing to advocate for the safety of the children. But Sid’s insistence leads to his dismissal. He now is forced to advocate for his “patients” from the outside looking in with the help of some dear colleagues still working for the company.

Inspired by a true story, Bad Pharma delves into the ethical issues surrounding drug development, which often puts science and business at odds. Sometimes, the risk is just not worth the reward.