2022 Volume 39 Issue 3 Pages 166-169
Looking at the current trends in the drug discovery and development, the central nervous system is positioned as the next disease area target after cancer. As modality of drug discovery, new fields such as cell therapy, gene therapy and nucleic acid medicine have emerged, and drug development is diversifying. Biotechnology companies are the mainstream of such drug discovery, unlike the conventional methods for screening candidate compounds where major pharmaceutical companies can demonstrate their superiority. Pharmaceutical companies encourage open innovation and have tendency to put biotechnology ventures and academia at the center of drug creation. In recent years, drug discovery is expected to be examined from various viewpoints such as social value including the viewpoint of cost effectiveness and patient's perspective. In addition, digital devices such as treatment apps have also entered the horizons of drug discovery.
Such recent trends have made drug discovery more complex than ever. In order to succeed in drug discovery, the conventional method of drug development, which is carried out by pharmaceutical companies, is no longer the limit. In addition to collaboration with the government, pharmaceutical companies have entered an era in which drug discovery cannot be achieved without building various partnerships with biotechnology companies, external researchers, clinicians, patients, sociologists, medical economists, etc. and there is a limit for pharmaceutical companies to take the lead in facilitating such partnerships. We believe that academia should be at the center of future drug discovery activities and JSNT is expected to take a position there and become a driving force for drug discovery in the field of neurological diseases.
