You’d see patients where interferon wasn’t working, and they’d been issued a death sentence. Suddenly, all their hopes for the future were restored, and, with minimal side effects! This was around 1999, and the Internet chat rooms were just beginning. Patients in the trials began talking to each other like they’d never done before. I’d see a patient, and I’d read about it on the Internet that night: “few side effects,” “100 percent response.” Patients would come to me and say, “My doctor has never heard of this drug.” I’d never written it up. I hadn’t presented the data. Their doctors thought I was a charlatan. For a lot of people, Gleevec was simply too good to be true. But these once-dying patients were getting out of bed, dancing, going hiking, doing yoga. The drug was amazing.

This is what we all live for in research, in medicine, in Pharma and Biotech... the chance to be part of something really exciting that makes a difference to patients lives and changes things like how we approach the treatment of cancer forever.

This was also true for the investigators such as Brian Druker, Charles Sawyers, Moshe Talpaz and John Goldman, all wonderful doctors who were proud to be part of something that truly helped their patients. It was truly a honour to work with them.