Why 'big pharma' stopped searching for the next Prozac

[HuckleB]

Pharma giants have cut research on psychiatric medicine by 70% in 10 years, so where will the next ‘wonder drug’ come from?
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/27/prozac-next-psychiatric-wonder-drug-research-medicine-mental-illness

"When the last major wave of “blockbuster” psychiatric drugs such as Prozac arrived on the market in the late 1980s and 90s, they ushered in a new era in the treatment of depression. With fewer serious side effects than their predecessors and aggressively marketed as a new class of “wonder drug”, they were prescribed very quickly to tens of millions of people living with depression and other debilitating conditions worldwide while pharmaceutical companies made a fortune.

A quarter of a century later, questions are being asked about what, if anything, will be the next significant leap forward in psychiatric pharmacology, be it for depression or other diagnoses such as schizophrenia or anxiety. With a quarter of the population likely to experience some kind of mental health difficulty in their lifetime, it is a pretty important question.

Since the heyday of SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) such as Prozac, “big pharma” has withdrawn from psychiatric drugs research and development, and industry experts are warning the pipeline is running dry.

According to Harry Tracy, whose newsletter NeuroPerspective tracks developments in drug treatments for psychiatric problems as well as neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, the number of psychopharmacological drugs research programmes in larger drug firms has shrunk by 70% in the past decade.

..."


------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hmm.

[truedelphi]

1. With older but more decent and usual pain meds being outlaawed, all Big Pharma has to do is to

Keep the public convinced that their pain can be alleviated by some of the newer pain meds, like Fentanyl.

Never mind that the newer series of pain meds can cost a person upwards of $ 150 a month, while vicodeine cost around $ 20.

[HuckleB]

2. What "older but more decent and usual pain meds" have been "outlawed?"

And what do pain meds have to do with the topic of the article in the OP?

[truedelphi]

3. What pain meds have to do with the topic is that Big Pharma could care less abt

The overall health of Americans.

What Big Pharma cares about is their bottom line.

And since it is harder and harder to get normal pain meds, but you are forced into getting more expensive ones, the Pharmaceutical Companies have no incentive to come up with new products, but instead just re-adjust the laws surrounding the availability of old medicines so that we pay more for newer ones.

Here is a link to what I am talking about:

http://amarillo.com/news/latest-news/2014-10-04/tighter-restrictions-pain-medications-start-monday

Then other items, like the antibiotic doxycycline are now about $ 3000 for a six months supply.
(However you can purchase the same thing for the fish in yr aquarium for $ 25! ) So not only are people who rely in hydrocodeine and vicodeine upset, so are people with Lyme's disease.

[HuckleB]

5. So, I'm having a hard time connecting your first claim with the reality here.

And I see no real connection to your claim about pain meds, the reality, and your attack on Big Pharma. It may be true that it doesn't care, but your posts have nothing to do with that.

[AngryAmish]

4. Prozac does not work.

Before you call me some crazy Scientologist, which I am not, the science of the serotonin reuptake drugs is poor.

I wish they worked.

What is spooky is how many of the modern talk therapies are declining in effectiveness. And psychoanalysis is pure voodoo.

[HuckleB]

6. Psychoanalysis is pure voodoo.

I won't call you crazy. I do think SSRIs were overplayed, but to say they don't work is not legit, either.

[PasadenaTrudy]

7. Prozac really helped me for years

I'm now doing great on Cymbalta.