Movie Starring Harrison Ford Tells of Novazyme CEO John Crowley's Quest to Save His Children

The drug industry may have been vilified in movies like The Constant Gardner, but it’s about to get a healthy dose of heartwarming goodness with the release of Extraordinary Measures, in January.

Extraordinary Measures tells the inspiring story of John Crowley, founder of Novazyme Pharmaceuticals. Two of Crowley’s children were diagnosed with the fatal neuromuscular disorder Pompe disease, and after being told there were no treatments available, Crowley started Novazyme based on research out of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. The company was eventually sold to Genzyme for $137.5 million, and Genzyme gained FDA approval of Pompe disease drug Myozyme (alglucosidase alfa) in 2006.

The movie is based on the book The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million - And Bucked the Medical Establishment, by Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal reporter Geeta Anand. Brendan Fraser plays Crowley, while Harrison Ford plays the scientist who developed the drug.

The trailer for the movie debuted online on Wednesday and can be viewed here.

I was teary-eyed about 20 seconds into the clip, and early online reviewers seem to have been similarly affected (except those who are pining for Harrison Ford’s action hero days).

It’s a nice change from the way drug makers are usually portrayed – not just in movies about unethical research on African children, but in real life. Between illegal marketing scandals, clinical trial shenanigans and financial misdeeds, the handful of bad apples get a lot more attention than the folks who just want to improve people’s lives, and I honestly believe there are a lot more of the latter than the former in this industry.