A race against time during the pandemic! "Moonshot" by Albert Bourla

Title: Moonshot: Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible

Author: Albert Bourla

Reviewer: Richard Sesek (educator, wantrepreneur)

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Topic/Intent of book: This book covers the unprecedented rapid development, test, manufacture, and distribution of a life-saving vaccine during the Covid-19 pandemic. The focus, dedication, and hard work of the researchers was impressive as was their sense of urgency and professionalism. The “view” from the inside was fascinating. Medical product development is already a tricky proposition, development under the pressure of a world-wide pandemic is orders of magnitude more difficult. Well-written book that puts you right there with the researchers racing to make a vaccine!

I selected this book because: This book provided a compelling, behind-the-scenes look at the response of major pharmaceutical companies to the Covid-19 pandemic. I was interested to learn more about how they ran controlled studies and met safety protocols as well as in what ways research had to be altered to accommodate an astonishingly short time-table. Also, there was much discussion about “Big Pharma” and their motivations during the pandemic.

Recommendation: Yes! I highly recommend this book for leaders, researchers, and innovators seeking lessons in innovation, particularly crisis-driven innovation. This book covers the convergence of science, business, ethics, and high-pressure, time-constrained problem solving. I think this book provides valuable insight, especially for cynical persons and conspiracy theorists that pontificate on all of the “financial incentives” at play (to you, I say, “read this book!”).

Major lessons from this book: Compressing timelines for vaccine development by 80-90% requires the cooperation of many institutions and governments. In addition to overcoming scientific hurdles, political hurdles (within and among) governments and corporations also must be addressed. Achieving herd immunity requires the efforts of the majority. Success is limited by the degree to which people cooperate. Unfortunately, mixed signals and poor communication from leaders cost many lives at home and abroad. Given the current state of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), I am unsure if such a feat as described in this book feasible. US leadership in any such future effort is certainly in question.

Book Inspirations: This book helped rekindle my faith that science will can ultimately “win” against the willful ignorance and ill-informed, but strongly-held, opinions of the “do your own research,” anti-vax, anti-science, flat-Earther, Dunning-Kruger poster children that have disproportionate voice in the “discussion” (shouting match?) that now passes for “discourse.” Science must not only overcome the difficult problems it has been enlisted to solve, it must also battle active attacks by misguided and often intentionally disingenuous persons sowing doubt and misinformation.