THE BUYER
"Habits are how careers happen." — Phillip Frost (paraphrased)
ONE
THE PATCH
INT. ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, BRONX - NIGHT (1961)
A medical-school library. Stacks of dermatology journals. PHILLIP FROST, 25, sits at a long table reading a paper on transdermal drug absorption. He is the only person in the room. The radiator hisses.
He underlines a sentence with a pencil.
YOUNG FROST
(to himself, quietly)
Through the skin. Not around it. Through it.
He closes the journal and stares at the ceiling for a long beat. The camera holds on his face. He has just found his career, but the audience doesn't know that yet.
Bronx, New York. 1961.
INT. SMALL DERMATOLOGY PRACTICE, MIAMI - DAY (1968)
A modest examination room. A single fluorescent fixture. Phillip, now 32, examines an elderly patient's hand with quiet attention.
ELDERLY PATIENT
Doctor, my husband says you read too much.
PHILLIP
Your husband is correct.
ELDERLY PATIENT
He says you should be on a beach.
PHILLIP
I will be. Eventually.
He smiles faintly and turns back to the chart. The exam continues. Outside, palm trees move in the heat.
PATRICIA
(V.O.)
He read at dinner. He read in waiting rooms. He read in bed. He read at every red light. I used to wonder when he slept. Then I figured out that he wasn't sleeping much.
INT. FROST KITCHEN, MIAMI BEACH - NIGHT (1971)
A simple kitchen. A small lamp. PHILLIP and PATRICIA sit at the table. Patricia, 32, has a glass of wine. Phillip has a notebook full of scribbled diagrams of skin layers and absorption rates.
PATRICIA
You're going to leave dermatology.
PHILLIP
Not leave. Extend.
PATRICIA
Phillip. You're going to leave dermatology.
PHILLIP
(a small smile)
I'm going to start a company.
PATRICIA
For what?
PHILLIP
For the patches. You can deliver a drug through the skin at a steady rate for hours. Days. The pharmacology is cleaner than a pill. The compliance is better. People will keep wearing what works.
PATRICIA
And what will the company do?
PHILLIP
It will sell the patches. To people who need them. And then someone bigger will buy us.
Patricia studies him. He has the calm of a man who has already done the arithmetic.
PATRICIA
You always think two moves ahead.
PHILLIP
(quietly)
Sometimes three.
INT. KEY PHARMACEUTICALS LAB, MIAMI - DAY (1978)
A modest industrial lab. Lab coats. Beakers. A small team of chemists. Phillip walks the floor with the bearing of a man who has read every paper they have read and several they have not.
A YOUNG CHEMIST holds up a small adhesive square.
YOUNG CHEMIST
Doctor Frost. The release profile is now linear over twelve hours.
PHILLIP
Make it sixteen.
YOUNG CHEMIST
We can probably get to fourteen.
PHILLIP
Make it sixteen and then call me.
He keeps walking. The chemist exhales. He is going to make it sixteen.
INT. SCHERING-PLOUGH BOARDROOM, NEW JERSEY - DAY (1986)
A long mahogany table. Phillip sits across from the SCHERING-PLOUGH CEO. A row of lawyers along the wall.
SCHERING CEO
Eight hundred and thirty-five million.
PHILLIP
For Key.
SCHERING CEO
For Key.
A long pause. Phillip writes a single number on a yellow legal pad and slides it across.
SCHERING CEO
(reading it)
You are an unusual negotiator.
PHILLIP
I am a patient negotiator.
The CEO holds his eye. The deal closes within a week.
Key Pharmaceuticals. Sold to Schering-Plough, 1986. Approximately $835 million.
INT. FROST KITCHEN, MIAMI BEACH - NIGHT (1986)
The same kitchen, fifteen years later. The lamp is the same. Phillip and Patricia at the same table. A bottle of champagne on the counter, unopened.
PATRICIA
We could buy a bigger kitchen now.
PHILLIP
This is a good kitchen.
PATRICIA
Phillip.
PHILLIP
(a long pause)
I'm going to do another one.
PATRICIA
I know you are.
He pours a small glass of champagne for each of them.
DISSOLVE TO:
TWO
THE GENERICS
INT. IVAX HEADQUARTERS, MIAMI - DAY (1990)
A larger office now. A floor of open desks. Phones ringing. Phillip in a glass-walled office at the end of the floor. RICHARD PFENNIGER, 35, sits across from him with a stack of folders.
PFENNIGER
Doctor Frost. We can close on the Lithuanian generics manufacturer next month. The Czech facility the month after that.
PHILLIP
Both.
PFENNIGER
Both at the same time?
PHILLIP
Both at the same time.
PFENNIGER
That is —
PHILLIP
Aggressive. I know. But the post-Soviet Eastern European generics window is going to close. We need the manufacturing footprint while it is cheap.
Pfenniger nods slowly. He has worked for Phillip long enough to know that the man with the soft voice has already done the math.
IVAX Corporation. Built through serial acquisitions, 1987 onward.
EXT. PROMENADE, MIAMI BEACH - DAY (1995)
Phillip and Patricia walking. The light is bright and salt-cool.
PATRICIA
The Einstein people called.
PHILLIP
About what.
PATRICIA
About a building. They want to put your name on it.
PHILLIP
(after a beat)
On ours.
PATRICIA
On ours, then.
PHILLIP
That's fine.
They keep walking. He never breaks stride.
INT. IVAX BOARDROOM - DAY (2006)
A bigger boardroom. Lawyers in better suits. The TEVA CEO across the table. Pfenniger to Phillip's right.
TEVA CEO
Seven point four billion.
PHILLIP
For IVAX.
TEVA CEO
For IVAX.
A beat.
PHILLIP
Done.
Pfenniger lets out a breath he did not know he was holding.
IVAX Corporation. Sold to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, 2006. Approximately $7.4 billion.
INT. FROST LIVING ROOM, MIAMI BEACH - NIGHT (2006)
A larger house now. Floor-to-ceiling windows. The art collection visible behind them — a Dubuffet, a Léger, a small Picasso study. Phillip and Patricia on the couch.
PATRICIA
You don't have to do another one.
PHILLIP
I know.
PATRICIA
I'm telling you. You don't have to.
PHILLIP
I know.
PATRICIA
And?
PHILLIP
(very quietly)
I want to do another one.
She does not look surprised. She rests her hand on his.
PATRICIA
Then do another one.
CUT TO:
THREE
THE BUYER
INT. OPKO HEALTH HEADQUARTERS, MIAMI - DAY (2008)
A new headquarters. New logo. New lobby. Phillip walks through it like a man in his own house. He is 72.
He stops at the desk of a YOUNG ASSISTANT.
PHILLIP
The Form 4. Did it file?
YOUNG ASSISTANT
Yes, Doctor Frost. This morning.
PHILLIP
Thank you.
He keeps walking.
INT. OPKO TRADING DESK / IR ROOM - DAY (2010)
The OPKO CFO at a screen, watching SEC EDGAR. A green tile pops up. PHILIP FROST — FORM 4 — PURCHASE.
He turns to a JUNIOR ANALYST next to him.
OPKO CFO
He bought again.
JUNIOR ANALYST
This week?
OPKO CFO
Yes.
JUNIOR ANALYST
He bought last week.
OPKO CFO
And he'll buy next week.
JUNIOR ANALYST
Why?
OPKO CFO
(after a pause)
Because that's who he is.
INT. OPKO BOARDROOM - DAY (2014)
The full board around a long table. Phillip at the head. The acquisition of BIO-REFERENCE LABORATORIES is on the agenda.
PHILLIP
Diagnostics is the leverage. Pharma alone is one tube. Pharma with a national lab is a system. We are buying a system.
A BOARD MEMBER nods. Another one writes.
PHILLIP
The 4Kscore prostate test is part of the case. So is the lab footprint. So is what we don't yet see.
He looks down at the spreadsheet. He looks up.
PHILLIP
We are doing this.
The deal closes.
OPKO acquired Bio-Reference Laboratories, 2014.
INT. YOUNG REPORTER'S OFFICE - DAY (2017)
A modest newsroom desk. The YOUNG REPORTER scrolls through SEC EDGAR on her screen, sorting Phillip Frost's Form 4 filings by date. She stops scrolling. She scrolls again. She stops.
YOUNG REPORTER
(to her editor, off-screen)
This guy buys his own stock every Tuesday.
EDITOR
(O.S.)
Every Tuesday for what?
YOUNG REPORTER
For years.
A long beat.
EDITOR
(O.S.)
That's the lede.
INT. OPKO CONFERENCE ROOM, MIAMI - DAY (2017)
The Young Reporter across from Phillip. He is 81. Calm. Courteous. He pours her water before she asks.
YOUNG REPORTER
Doctor Frost. Why do you keep buying?
PHILLIP
Because I believe in the company.
YOUNG REPORTER
Other CEOs believe in their companies. They don't file like you do.
PHILLIP
(a small smile)
Then maybe they don't believe.
YOUNG REPORTER
That's not an answer.
PHILLIP
(after a beat)
I started buying. The price went up. I kept buying. The price went down. I kept buying. At some point you stop calculating each purchase. You just keep doing it.
YOUNG REPORTER
That's a habit.
PHILLIP
That is a habit. Yes.
YOUNG REPORTER
Habits are how careers end, sometimes.
PHILLIP
Habits are how careers happen.
She closes her notebook slowly.
INT. SEC OFFICES, NEW YORK - DAY (SEPTEMBER 2018)
A conference room. The SEC ATTORNEY across from Phillip and his counsel. Tape recorder on the table.
SEC ATTORNEY
Doctor Frost. We have allegations regarding three small-cap stocks — BIOZ, MGT, and MBOT. We have allegations regarding promotion. We have allegations regarding coordinated trading.
PHILLIP
I have heard the allegations.
SEC ATTORNEY
The Commission is filing charges this afternoon.
A long silence.
PHILLIP'S COUNSEL
We will respond through filings.
PHILLIP
(quietly, to the SEC attorney)
You should ask the questions you need to ask.
SEC ATTORNEY
We will.
PHILLIP
Good.
INT. FROST LIVING ROOM, MIAMI BEACH - NIGHT (SEPTEMBER 2018)
The news is on the television in the corner. Patricia sits next to Phillip on the couch. A glass of water on the table. He has not turned to face the television.
PATRICIA
Is this the worst it has been?
PHILLIP
(after a long pause)
Yes.
PATRICIA
Will you stop?
PHILLIP
Stop what?
PATRICIA
Buying. The Form 4s. Will you stop?
He looks at her. He doesn't answer for a long moment.
PHILLIP
I don't know how to stop.
PATRICIA
Phillip.
PHILLIP
I don't know how to stop, Pat. That's what I'm telling you. I don't know what that man looks like.
She squeezes his hand.
PATRICIA
Then don't stop.
INT. SEC OFFICES, NEW YORK - DAY (MARCH 2019)
A signing room. A settlement on a long table. Phillip's counsel reviews the final paragraphs.
The terms: a payment of approximately $5.5 million. A penny-stock officer/director bar. No admission of wrongdoing.
The SEC Attorney stands. Phillip stands. They shake hands across the table. Two professionals concluding business neither of them enjoys.
SEC ATTORNEY
Doctor Frost.
PHILLIP
Counselor.
The matter is closed. He walks out into the hallway.
2019. Settlement without admission of wrongdoing. Approximately $5.5 million penalty. Penny-stock officer/director bar.
INT. OPKO HEADQUARTERS - DAY (THE NEXT TUESDAY)
A simple shot. Phillip at his desk. A piece of paper in front of him. A pen in his hand. He signs the bottom of it.
He hands it to an ASSISTANT.
PHILLIP
File it.
ASSISTANT
Yes, Doctor Frost.
He goes back to reading. The audience does not need to be told what was on the page.
INT. OPKO TRADING DESK / IR ROOM - DAY (THE SAME AFTERNOON)
The OPKO CFO at his screen. The green tile pops up. PHILIP FROST — FORM 4 — PURCHASE.
He looks at it for a long time. He turns to the Junior Analyst, who is older now.
OPKO CFO
He bought again.
JUNIOR ANALYST
After all that?
OPKO CFO
After all that.
JUNIOR ANALYST
Why?
OPKO CFO
(after a long pause)
Because that's who he is.
INT. OPKO BIO-REFERENCE LAB FLOOR - NIGHT (MARCH 2020)
Hundreds of PCR machines running. White-coated technicians moving through aisles. The pandemic. The lab is one of the largest COVID-19 testing operations in the country.
Phillip walks the floor at midnight. He is 84. He stops at one machine. He watches it cycle. He nods, almost imperceptibly.
PATRICIA
(V.O.)
He didn't talk about retiring. He talked about the next thing. The next study. The next acquisition. The next Tuesday.
INT. PHILLIP AND PATRICIA FROST MUSEUM OF SCIENCE, MIAMI - DAY (2022)
A bright atrium. Schoolchildren on a field trip. A docent points to a planetarium. Phillip and Patricia stand quietly off to one side, watching the children.
A SMALL GIRL approaches. She tugs on Patricia's sleeve.
SMALL GIRL
Are you the Frosts?
PATRICIA
We are.
SMALL GIRL
Why is your name on the building?
Patricia looks at Phillip. Phillip kneels slowly.
PHILLIP
(to the girl, gently)
Because we wanted to make this place. So you could come here. So you could read the plaques and look at the planets. That's all.
SMALL GIRL
That's a lot.
PHILLIP
(a small laugh)
That's a lot. Yes.
She runs back to her group. Patricia takes his arm.
INT. FROST HOME OFFICE, MIAMI BEACH - NIGHT (PRESENT)
A study lined with books. Medical journals. SEC filings. A small framed photograph of Phillip and Patricia at the IVAX-Teva closing dinner.
Phillip sits at the desk. He is older now. The light is a single banker's lamp. A piece of paper in front of him. A pen in his hand.
He signs the bottom of it.
He sets the pen down. He looks out the window at the ocean.
A long beat.
He picks the pen up again. He pulls the next page from the stack.
PHILLIP (breaking the fourth wall)
People ask why I keep buying. The honest answer is that I started a long time ago, and I never found a Tuesday on which I wanted to stop.
He signs the next page. Patricia opens the door behind him quietly. She does not interrupt. She just stands there in the doorway, watching her husband sign another Form 4.
FADE TO BLACK.
Phillip Frost continues to serve as Chairman and CEO of OPKO Health. The Frosts' names appear on the Frost Museum of Science, the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, the Frost Art Museum at FIU, and programs at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He still files Form 4s.
THE END