Five Days in Paris

The weather in Paris was unusually warm as Peter Haskell's plane landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport. The plane taxied neatly to the gate, and a few minutes later, briefcase in hand, Peter was striding through the airport. He was almost smiling as he got on the customs line, despite the heat of the day and the number of people crowding ahead of him in line. Peter Haskell loved Paris. He generally traveled to Europe four or five times a year. The pharmaceutical empire he ran had research centers in Germany, Switzerland, and France, and huge laboratories and factories in England. It was always interesting coming over here, exchanging ideas with their research teams, and exploring new avenues of marketing, which was his real forte. But this time it was far more than that, far more than just a research trip, or the unveiling of a new product. He was here for the birth of "his baby." Vicotec. His life'sdream. Vicotec was going to change the lives and the outlook of all people with cancer. It was going to dramatically alter maintenance programs, and the very nature of chemotherapy the world over. It would be Peter's one major contribution to the human race. For the past four years, other than his family, it was what he had lived for. And undeniably, it was going to make Wilson-Donovan millions. More than that, obviously, their studies had already projected earnings in the first five years to well over a billion dollars. But that wasn't the point for Peter. The point was life, and the quality of those lives, severely dimmed, they were flickering candles in the dark night of cancer. And Vicotec was going to help them. At first, it had seemed like an idealistic dream, but now they were just inches from final victory, and it gave Peter a thrill every time he thought of what was about to happen. And so far, their most recent results had been perfect. Their meetings in Germany and Switzerland had gone brilliantly. The testing done in their laboratories there was even more rigorous than what had been done in the States. They were sure now. It was safe. They could move aheadto Phase One Human Trials, as soon as the FDA approved it, which meant givinglow doses of the medication to a select number of willing, well-informedsubjects, and seeing how they fared. Wilson-Donovan had already submitted their application tothe FDA in January, months before, and based on the information they weredeveloping now, they were going to ask for Vicotec to be put on the "FastTrack," pressing ahead with human trials of the drug, and eventually earlyrelease, once the FDA saw how safe it was and Wilson-Donovan proved it to them. The"Fast Track" process was used in order to speed the various steps towardapproval, in the case of drugs to be used in life-threatening diseases. Oncethey got approval from the FDA, theywere going to start with a group of one hundred people who would signinformed consent agreements, acknowledging the potential dangers of thetreatment. They were all so desperately ill, it would be their only hope, andthey knew it. The people who signed up for experiments like this were gratefulfor any help available to them. Wilson-Donovan wanted to move ahead as quickly as possible to clinicaltrials on patients, which was why it was so important to test Vicotec'ssafety nowbefore the FDA hearings in September, which would hopefully put it on the "FastTrack." Peter was absolutely sure that the testing being concluded by Paul-Louis Suchard, the head of the laboratory in Paris, would only confirm the good news he had just been given in Geneva. "Holiday or business, monsieur?" The customs officer looked unconcerned as he stamped Peter's passport, and barely glanced up at him after looking at the picture. He had blue eyes and dark hair and looked younger than his forty-four years. He had fine features, he was tall, and most people would have agreed that he was handsome. [read more]