The Cure

Geeta Anand, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, tells the true story behind Extraordinary Measures, the film starring Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell. Her book follows one father's resolve to find a treatment for his children's illness, a effort that forced him to build an enterprise almost from the ground up.

John and Aileen Crowley seemed to have everything: three children, a new home and financial security. That changed when their two youngest, Megan, fifteen months old, and Patrick, five months old, were diagnosed with Pompe disease and told they had only a few months left. John would not resign himself to that prognosis. He left his job as a financial consultant and put his savings into a young biotechnology company devoted to studying the disease and developing a cure.

The path was punishing. Scientific setbacks, accusations of conflicts of interest and mounting business problems pushed John and Aileen to their limits. Still, they persisted and helped produce a new treatment for Pompe disease, bringing hope to Megan, Patrick and the many other children and families affected by the condition around the world.