Potential Breakthroughs in Neurotherapeutics: Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Depression, Bipolar Disorder, and Schizophrenia

Abstract

Current therapies for neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases leave much to be desired. Alzheimer' s and Parkinson' s diseases are an increasing burden on the health care systems of the developed countries as the proportion of their elderly population rises. As for psychiatric disorders, their social and economic impact can be measured by the fact that antipsychotics and antidepressants account for nearly a quarter of total sales for the world' s top 10 best-selling drugs. Potential Breakthroughs in Neurotherapeutics: Alzheimer' s Disease, Parkinson' s Disease, Depression, Bipolar Disorder, and Schizophrenia, a new CHA Advances report, provides a comprehensive assessment of truly innovative, early-stage research that we feel will translate into significant advances in neurotherapy. Specifically, it:

• Surveys current basic academic research relevant to drug or target discovery
• Highlights topics that show promise of future commercial potential
• Examines conditions in the technology transfer milieu relevant to these emerging opportunities
• Assesses the commercial potential for these emerging opportunities
• Seeks the views of individuals in industry and academia with insight into the foregoing issues

The report begins with an analysis of the technology transfer process that bridges university research and the commercial world �\ its triumphs, but also its difficulties operating in the current risk-aversive commercial environment. Although industrial R&D activity focused on CNS disorders is intense, progress toward significant innovation remains slow and largely dependent on new leads generated from academia. Potential Breakthroughs in Neurotherapeutics describes one research program in neurology that is turning out to be a ' poster child' for translational medicine.

For each of the 5 diseases, Potential Breakthroughs in Neurotherapeutics reviews consensus thinking about the pathophysiological mechanisms, targets, and the state-of-the-art in drug therapy. Then it launches into a review of significant research findings in each disease �\ the compounds and their targets already in discovery or early development with potential therapeutic value. In evaluating the commercial potential of each target or compound, the report relies on a proprietary scoring system based on the following criteria:

• Stage of the project
• Number of directly related citations in PubMed
• Strength of the mechanistic story and theoretical support
• Efficacy probability based on studies in cells, tissues, or animal disease models
• Overall rating from 1 (worst) to 10 (best)

More than 125 compounds and more than 40 targets, sponsored by 82 companies, are subjected to this rigorous evaluative process. Moreover, early stage research within each disease area is given an overall rating, and particularly strong compounds, targets, or therapeutic approaches are singled out for discussion. The report supplements this rich analysis with interviews with 8 thought leaders in neurotherapeutics from industry and academia, plus profiles of 20 companies at the forefront of CNS research.