Drug Discovery for Psychiatric Disorders

The discovery and development of effective medicines for the treatment of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and depression has been heralded as one of the great medical achievements of the past century. Indeed, the profound impact of these medicines on our understanding of the pathophysiology underlying these diseases, the treatment of psychiatric patients and even our social perception of mental illnesses cannot be underestimated. However, there is still an urgent medical need for even more effective, safe and well-tolerated treatments. For example, currently available treatments for schizophrenia address mainly the positive symptoms and largely neglect the negative symptoms and cognitive disfunction which greatly impact overall morbidity. Similarly, whilst current first line antidepressants show significantly improved side effect profiles compared to the first generation therapies, there are still up to 40% of patients who are treatment resistant, and even in the patient population which responds well, the onset of action is slow at typically 2-3 weeks. The aim of this book is to provide the first point of call for those involved or just interested in this rapidly expanding and increasingly fragmented field of research in drug discovery. The editors have combined their wide ranging experience and extensive network of contacts with leading scientists and opinion leaders in this field to provide an authoritative reference text covering the evolution, major advances, challenges and future directions in drug discovery for major psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, ADHD, bipolar disorder, addiction and autism. Written by leading experts from industry and academia the book will be essential reading for medicinal chemists, pharmacologists, and pharmaceutical scientists working in psychiatric diorders drug discovery and development.