Scientists Sometimes Get Lucky

Herceptin The author of this report has been asked to assess the story and intrigue of the development of the breast cancer drug Herceptin. Indeed, there are many important advances that occur due to the efforts and travails of scientists and other medical professionals. The author of this report has been asked to identify the five key forces that influenced the discovery, development and promotion of the drug in question.

For each factor identified, there will be a description of whether the force helped or hindered the development of the drug. While there are challenges with all drugs in terms of funding, potential lawsuits and other setbacks, Herceptin was and is indeed a success story despite what challenges are faced with the development of every drug. Analysis One force that worked both for and against Herceptin are the expectations when it comes to new drugs to fight cancers including breast cancer.

Indeed, there has been talked for a long while now, at least it seems, about a treatment option that is known as antiangiogenics. However, the promise of this method was not realized right away and this made some people impatient. However, the arrival of Herceptin has cleared away a lot of the frustrations and doubts.

This force of expectations works both for and against Herceptin and its makers because the expectations of a "miracle cure" can sometimes be unreasonable and improper but there are indeed some drugs that defy the odds and allow for progress that was once thought impossible (Delaney, 1999). Another force that was involved with Herceptin was luck. Sometimes, even when efforts are focused and dedicated, cancer and other breakthroughs are just dumb luck. Precisely this seemed to have happened with Herceptin.

This works in favor of Herceptin and drugs/results like it but there is obviously no way to expect or demand these lucky breaks to happen. A third force that occurred with Herceptin was dedication. There were a good number of women involved in the development of Herceptin and the drug developers of the same have said straight up that they would not be where they are with Herceptin were it not for the dedication and efforts of the women involved in the development of the drug (Delaney, 1999).

Another force is the building upon prior research to make new and more profound progress. Indeed, there was the discovery of a protein all the way back in 1984 that came to be known as EGFR. This discovery played a huge part in what came later on when it came to research about cancer. Indeed, it led to the revelation that EGFR is a receptor and it is almost identical to a cancerous cell found in chickens. This discovery led to drugs like HErcepton.

This force is positive and proves that while taking new directions is sometimes the best way to proceed, building on prior research can also be extremely fruitful (Hazell, 2016). Finally, another force that is extremely related to the above is publishing/collaboration. If the information about EGFR and similar breakthroughs were not published and openly shared, it is hard to say how far we would be right now but it probably would not be nearly as good as it is now.

Sharing is mostly good in that some sharing/data is not fruitful but the spirit involved is good.