New take on depression and schizophrenia research

Academia and industry have joined forces to investigate and find novel methods for the development of drugs for depression and schizophrenia. The NEWMEDS ('Novel methods leading to new medications in depression and schizophrenia') project is funded by the Innovative Medicines ...

Academia and industry have joined forces to investigate and find novel methods for the development of drugs for depression and schizophrenia. The NEWMEDS ('Novel methods leading to new medications in depression and schizophrenia') project is funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a public-private partnership between the pharmaceutical industry (represented by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)) and the EU, under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Support totals EUR 1 billion which will be matched in kind from the EFPIA member companies.

Many research studies - both past and present - on depression and schizophrenia provide key information about these disorders in Europe and abroad. However, experts believe this field of research is held back due to several factors: insufficient accurate animal models to guide the drug discovery, insufficient tools and tests in healthy volunteers that can offer early indication of efficacy, and the reliance of clinical trials on symptom-based diagnostic and statistical manual categories that leads to biologically heterogeneous groups of patients.

Thanks to their unique and strong collaboration, the NEWMEDS project partners, led by the Danish research company H. Lundbeck A/S and King's College London in the UK, will tackle these snags by implementing a new approach to drug discovery. The team will use brain recording and behavioural tests to identify state-of-the-art drugs for schizophrenia, and will develop the hardware and analysis techniques to apply brain imaging to drug development.

The team will also evaluate the effect of new genetic findings on drug response, and determine how this information can be used to select the right drug for the right patient, they said. Also on their to-do list is the design and development of new approaches for shorter and more efficient trials of new drugs. This would result in getting faster results by using fewer patients.

'Academia and industry have a long tradition of working together on a one-on-one basis. NEWMEDS embodies a novel collaborative effort where companies join forces and together with academia answer scientific questions in a precompetitive environment that will form the basis of tomorrow's medicines,' explained NEWMEDS coordinator Dr Tine Bryan Stensbøl, Divisional Director for Discovery Pharmacology Research at H. Lundbeck A/S. 'This joint effort will provide novel insights that undoubtedly will [benefit] the patients suffering from schizophrenia and depression.'

The scientists that are pivotal to this study are from the Central Institute of Mental Health in Germany, the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) in Spain, Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, the Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and the UK's University of Cambridge and the University of Manchester.

Global pharmaceutical giants that are participating in the project include the Swiss-based Novartis and Roche, the British-based AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, and the US-based Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Wyeth.

Another plus for this project is the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), such as the Icelandic company deCODE, the British group Psynova, and GABO:mi of Germany.

'NEWMEDS is a very timely experiment. While the biology of psychiatry has made remarkable progress, we have been slow in converting that into innovative and new medications,' said Professor Shitij Kapur, head of the managing entity from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London.

'This is a joint challenge for academia and industry. NEWMEDS is a joint response. It is not only scientifically innovative, but it is also an innovation in creating a cluster of nearly 50 scientists from both sides to work together to achieve a common goal - better, safer and more effective medications -more quickly.'