Today there are good many patients with symptoms of neuropsychiatric disorder represented by schizophrenia or depression, and, given their considerable influence over quality of life, more effective therapeutic modalities are badly needed to cure such diseases.
For psychiatric medication, drugs originated from discoveries by "serendipity" (which means scientific discoveries by lucky chance) have traditionally been major remedies over the past nearly five decades. However, as a result of rapid progress of recent basic studies on mental diseases, circumstances are now being built up where new drugs could be discovered based on genetic level or molecular level studies of pathogenic mechanism, and it is hoped that revolutionary therapeutic medicines with unique features that conventional medicines do not have will be discovered.
Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma places importance on central nervous system (CNS) area
as one of the priority research areas, and among antipsychotic agents, the company
markets such proprietary products as LULLANR and LONASENR, and, in addition, is
developing a lurasidone (generic name) globally. In October this year, the company set up "Funded Department of Molecular Neuropsychiatry (Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma)"
at Graduate School of Medicine of Osaka University for the purpose of contributing to translation of basic research results to clinical practices in the field of psychiatric diseases.
At Osaka University, genetic risk studies on psychiatric illness are underway jointly by Graduate School of Medicine and Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. In parallel with such genetic level studies, those of cellular and whole organism levels are also conducted under the comprehensive research programs.
Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma has extensive R&D experiences in the field of CNS, while Graduate School of Medicine and Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Osaka University have a grand track record in their integrated researches on pathogenic mechanism of psychiatric disorder. These industry and academia jointly form "Neuropsychiatry Drug Discover Consortium", under which various collaborative studies will be implemented with the hope of greatly contributing to development of science and technology in medical care as well as accelerating translation of basic researches to clinical practices in the field of psychiatric diseases. Future participation from other academic groups in this Consortium is under consideration.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment