Can precision psychiatry overcome the challenges of drug development? Biomarkers could help researchers identify patients most likely to respond to psychiatric drugs, but translating early promise into clinical success remains a challenge. Written byBree Foster, PhD

Can precision psychiatry overcome the challenges of drug development? Biomarkers could help researchers identify patients most likely to respond to psychiatric drugs, but translating early promise into clinical success remains a challenge. Written byBree Foster, PhD https://www.drugdiscoverynews.com/can-precision-psychiatry-overcome-the-challenges-of-drug-development-17620 Psychiatric drug development has one of the lowest success rates of any therapeutic area. One analysis found that just 7.9 percent of psychiatric drug candidates entering clinical development ultimately received regulatory approval, compared with an average of 9.6 percent across all therapeutic areas. One challenge is that psychiatric diagnoses can encompass patients with very different underlying biology. Two people with major depressive disorder (MDD), for example, may experience similar symptoms but have different biological processes contributing to their illness and respond differently to the same treatment.