Researchers to collaborate on novel treatments for brain disorders

A new era of “pre-competitive collaboration” in the development of treatments for patients suffering from brain disorders began when leading enterprises and institutions involved in central nervous system (CNS) clinical trials agreed to collaborate together towards the common goal of developing novel treatments for patients, in an area of medicine with high unmet need.

The agreement to rethink how companies interact and to streamline and accelerate CNS drug development was formed at the CNS Summit 2012, which took place in Florida, USA, November 15-18. Participants, included scientists working in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and service companies, as well as research investigators.

The guiding principles of the CNS Summit are “collaboration, innovation, acceleration and technology.” Co-chairman of the Scientific Program Committee, Amir Kalali, stated that this agreement to explore all potential ways to collaborate in the pre-competitive space should lead to a higher success rate of research programs, more efficient use of research funding, and leveraging the collective scientific expertise across the CNS field for the benefit of patients. This shows that scientists are committed to working together across competing companies towards our common goal of relieving suffering in patients.