The path to pharma-psych innovation

“For too long we have swept the problems of mental illness under the carpet... and hoped that they would go away.” – Richard J. Codey

Unfortunately, mental illness won’t just go away. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression alone affects 300 million globally. Bipolar affective disorder impacts about 60 million, and psychoses – including schizophrenia – affects approximately 21 million the world over.1

Mental illness is certainly not new, and pharma is no stranger to it. For years, the industry has developed drugs for different mental disorders. According to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), clinical trials or US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval applications for 119 new medicines were in progress in 2014.2 Among the most significant milestones in the industry’s evolution was the release of the so-called ‘wonder drugs’ Prozac (fluoxetine) and Ritalin (methylphenidate) in the late 1980s. Before then, it was Valium.