A Conversation with P. Roy Vagelos

P. Roy Vagelos, Merck's former Chairman and CEO, talks about his life and career with Andrew R. Marks, professor at the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at the Columbia University College of Physicians and surgeons. Dr. Vagelos went from waiting on Merck employees at his father's luncheonette in New Jersey to joining the pharmaceutical company, where he revolutionized the drug discovery process. With his team, he developed the first statin, a molecule that reduces cholesterol, and a drug that kills the river blindness parasite with a single tablet.