Money & Business
January 26, 2004

The Suite Spot

HOW THE MIGHTY FALL
Alex Prud'homme's new book, The Cell Game: Sam Waksal's Fast Money and False Promises—and the Fate of ImClone's Cancer Drug (HarperBusiness), has all the ingredients of a juicy crime novel, minus the murder. But it's no piece of fiction. The book tracks the fabled story of Sam Waksal, the former chief executive of biotech firm ImClone, who now mops floors in a federal prison in Schuylkill, Pa. Waksal pleaded guilty to securities fraud last year, after admitting that he had urged his daughter to dump ImClone stock before the Food and Drug Administration nixed approval of the firm's promising cancer drug, Erbitux. Prud'homme weaves a chilling tale, detailing Waksal's checkered history as a scientist, his pointed social climbing among Manhattan's elite, his celebrity worship, and his close ties to home goddess Martha Stewart, whose own trial on related charges begins this week.

Erbitux was once widely anticipated as a wonder drug for treating colon and other cancers, and Prud'homme eloquently captures the dashed hopes of dying cancer patients and the fact that, even while Waksal serves his seven-year sentence, his efforts to get Erbitux to market may yet pay off. The FDA is expected to finally approve the drug early this year.

—Megan Barnett