Strong Medicine (80 page)

Some calls were obviously from cranks. Other callers were sexually explicit

or obscene. As Bill Ingram commented, "Suddenly, everything we so carefully

planned has been turned into a sideshow. "

It was this circus effect that most worried Celia. Would doctors, she

wondered, not wanting to be associated with something which already

appeared disreputable, decide not to prescribe Peptide 7 at all?

She consulted Andrew, who confirmed her fears. "I'm sorry to have to say

this, but quite a few physicians will feel that way. Unfortunately, all the

publicity suggests that Peptide 7 is in the same league with laetrile, ouzo

and Spanish fly."

Celia said unhappily, "You make me wish I hadn't asked."

Thus, less than a month before what had been foreseen as a strong but

dignified introduction of Peptide 7, Celia was weary, dismayed and

apprehensive.

In Britain, Martin was in deep despair.

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"As it turned out," Celia was apt to reminisce much later, "we

really did have problems----extremely serious ones--during the

early months after Peptide Ts introduction. Among all of us in

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charge at Felding-Roth there were plenty of tense, anxious hours, biting

of fingernails, and sleepless nights. Yet the strange thing was, the

problems that happened were not the ones we expected." Then she would

laugh and add, "What it all showed is that you can never be certain how

people will react to anything. "

The problems Celia referred to concerned supply.

From the moment Peptide 7 was available-obtainable, with a doctor's

prescription, from druggists-for months there was never enough to meet

the amazing, unprecedented demand. Long lines formed in front of pharmacy

counters, and when customers were turned away because supplies ran out,

they would go to other drugstores and stand in lines there.

A reason that was revealed later-this time quoting Bill Ingram -was that

"the damn doctors and druggists were using the stuff themselves and

cornering some of the rest for friends."

The shortage, which for a while was desperate, occurred in Britain as

well as the United States. Long-timers in the company had never known

anything like it. It resulted in frantic phone calls between New Jersey,

Ireland, Harlow, Puerto Rico, Chicago and Manchester-the last two where

plastic containers were being made and finger pumps assembled. Puerto

Rico in particular, said a Felding-Roth purchasing agent, was "always

screaming for containers, which they filled and shipped as fast as they

came in."

Both the Irish and Puerto Rican plants were working around the clock,

with extra shifts. At the same time, chartered jet aircraft flew on

several occasions from Ireland to Puerto Rico, carrying the precious

active Peptide 7 ingredient.

It was Ingram who bore the brunt of that difficult time, overseeing all

arrangements while, in his words, "We lived from hand to mouth, juggling

what supplies we had, trying to keep the multitudes who demanded Peptide

7 as happy as we could."

Then, looking back on those frantic days, he too would laugh, the anxiety

long behind him, and say, "Bless everybody, though! All of our people

pitched in, doing everything they could. Even those doctors and

druggists, playing favorites, helped Peptide 7 become the golden success

it is."

The word golden was appropriate. As Fortune magazine headlined a feature

article a year after the new drug swept, like a tornado, upon the

pharmaceutical scene:

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FELDING-ROTH

FINDS RICH

IS BETTER

Fortune estimated that the first year of Peptide 7 sales would bring in

revenues of six hundred million dollars. That and earlier estimates

caused Felding-Roth shares, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, to go,

in one broker's words, "through the roof into the stratosphere."

Immediately after the drug's introduction the share price tripled in a

month, doubled again within a year, and redoubled during the eight months

following. After that, directors voted for a five-to-one split to keep

the share price within a reasonable trading range.

Even so, when accountants finished their arithmetic, the Fortune estimate

proved low by a hundred million dollars.

Something else Fortune said was, "Not since SmithKline's remarkable ulcer

drug, Tagamet, was introduced in 1976 has there been any industrial

product comparable with the phenomenon of Peptide 7."

The success was not confined to money.

Thousands upon thousands of middle-aged and elderly men and women were

taking the drug, spraying it into nasal passages twice daily and

proclaiming that they felt better, their memories were sharper, their

general vigor enhanced. When asked if "vigor" included sexual energy,

some replied frankly, yes, while others smiled, declaring that to be a

private matter.

The enhanced memory factor was regarded by medical experts as the most

important. People taking Peptide 7 who once suffered from forgetfulness

now remembered things. Many who previously had difficulty in recalling

other people's names found that problem disappearing. Telephone numbers

were recollected without effort. Husbands who formerly forgot them began

remembering their wives' birthdays and wedding anniversaries. One elderly

gentleman claimed to have memorized, without even trying, an entire local

bus schedule. When put to the test by friends, he proved it true. Psy-

chologists who devised "before and after" memory checks confirmed to

their satisfaction that Peptide 7 worked.

Though considered secondary to memory, the drug's antiobesity effect

quickly became indisputable and advantageous. Fat people, including those

in lower age groups, lost unwanted weight and gained in general health.

The effect was soon so widely accepted

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medically that Felding-Roth applied, in the United States, Britain and

Canada, for an official weight-loss "indication" to be added to Peptide

Ts authorized use. There seemed little doubt the applications would be

approved.

Throughout the world, other countries were rushing to approve Peptide 7

and obtain supplies.

It was too early yet to know whether the drug would reduce the incidence

of Alzheimer's disease. Such knowledge was several years away, but many

lived in hope.

One critical question was being asked. Was Peptide 7 being over-

prescribed, as had happened with other medications in the past? The

answer: almost certainly, yes. Yet what made Peptide 7 different from

those others was that even when not needed, it did no harm. It was not

addicting. Incredibly, adverse reports about its effects were almost nil.

One woman wrote from Texas, complaining that each time she took a dose,

and afterward had sexual intercourse, she ended with a headache. The

report was passed routinely by Felding-Roth to the FDA, and also

investigated. The matter was dropped when it was discovered the woman's

age was eighty-two.

A California man went to Small Claims Court, demanding that Felding-Roth

be made to pay for a new wardrobe since his previous clothes were no

longer usable after Peptide 7 caused him to lose thirty pounds of weight.

The claim was contested and dismissed.

Nothing more serious was reported.

As for doctors, their enthusiasm seemed to have no limits. They

recommended Peptide 7 to patients as being beneficial, safe, and one of

history's great medical advances. Hospitals were using it. Doctors who

enjoyed active social lives rarely went out to dinner or to a cocktail

party without a prescription pad in pocket, knowing they would be asked

for Peptide 7, and that obliging a host or hostess, or their friends,

could lead to other invitations.

On the subject of doctors, Celia said to Andrew, "For once you were

wrong. Doctors weren't put off by all that publicity. In fact, it seems

to have helped."

"Yes, I was wrong," her husband admitted, "and you'll probably remind me

of it for the rest of my life. But I'm happy to be wrong, and happiest

of all for you, my love. You-and Martin, of coursedeserve everything

that's come about."

The publicity seemed to continue unabated, perhaps, Celia thought,

because Peptide 7 was causing so much renewal of human

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happiness. In newspapers there were frequent references to the drug's

effects, and on television it was talked about often.

Bill Ingram reminded Celia, "You once told me the nature of TV would help

us one day. It certainly has."

Ingram, who had been promoted a year earlier to executive vice president,

was carrying much of the load that Celia formerly had. Celia's main

preoccupation nowadays was what to do with the money that was pouring in

and, presumably, would continue to accumulate for years to come.

Seth Feingold, now retired, had been retained as a consultant and appeared

occasionally. During one meeting with Celia, a year and a half after

Peptide Ts U.S. introduction, Seth cautioned, "You have to speed up

decisions about how to spend some of that cash. If you don't, too much will

be swallowed by taxes."

One way of using cash was to acquire other companies. On Celia's urging,

the board approved purchasing the Chicago firm which was making Peptide Ts

containers. That was followed by acquisition of an Arizona concern

specializing in new drug delivery systems. Negotiations to buy an optical

company were under way. Many more millions would be spent on a new genetic

engineering research center. There would be expansions overseas.

A new company headquarters was planned, since the existing Boonton building

had run out of space and some departments were housed in distant, rented

quarters. The new structure would be in Morristown, with a hotel as part of

a Felding-Roth high-rise complex.

One purchase was a jet airplane-a Gulfstream 111. Celia and Ingram used it

on their North American journeyings, more frequent now because of the

company's widening activities.

During Celia's meeting with Seth, he also said quietly, "One thing that's

good about all this money coming in is that some of it can be used to

settle claims about those poor Montayne-deformed children."

"I'm glad of that too," Celia said. She had been aware for some time that

the existing reserve fund being used by Childers Quentin for Montayne

settlements was almost exhausted.

Seth said sadly, "I'll never feel free from my guilt about Montayne.

Never."

Sharing the sober, reflective moment, Celia thought: Amid an enormous

therapeutic and financial success, it was necessary and

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chastening to be reminded that grim failures were also part of phar-

maceutical history.

Through all of Peptide Ts bountiful triumph, Martin Peat-Smith was, as the

clicW went, in seventh heaven. Not even in the most optimistic moments had

he ever imagined so much would be accomplished by his research into aging.