Video: Trepanation
Retrospectacle: A Neuroscience Blog: “Trepanation is a procedure where a hole is drilled into the skull, exposing the dura mater and brain for either medical (releif of pressure) or mystical (supposed heightened consciousness)purposes. ”
Pharma Marketing
For reasons I don’t really understand, this report is getting lots of attention in the media and pharma-related weblogs. These are large businesses with shareholders expecting return on investment. They market where they believe the return will be found. The same is true of R&D and the relative rate of spend between the two.
Big Pharma Spends More On Advertising Than Research And Development, Study Finds: “A new study by two York University researchers estimates the U.S. pharmaceutical industry spends almost twice as much on promotion as it does on research and development, contrary to the industry’s claim.”
Up and Coming: Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Modulation
It seems that since the September announcement by Lilly showing efficacy of a metabotropic glutamate receptor agonist in Schizophrenia, there’s more activity in the area than I’ve ever seen before:
Pfizer’s in:
Pfizer Inc. and Taisho Pharmaceutical Finalize Deal on Schizophrenia Drug; to Pay Initial $22M – News, Search Jobs, Events: “TS-032 is a novel mGluR (metabotropic glutamate receptor) agonist that may offer a new treatment option for central nervous system disorders. Although the characteristics of mGluR are still only partly understood, mGluR is believed to play a role in the transmission of glutamate and other substances in the brain. Abnormalities in the neurotransmission through mGluR may be one cause for symptoms related to schizophrenia as well as other CNS disorders. Data show that mGluR agonists, such as TS-032, offer potential as new treatments for schizophrenia.”
As is Merck:
Addex Pharmaceuticals : 3 January 2008 ADX63365: “Allosteric modulation company Addex Pharmaceuticals (SWX:ADXN) announced today that it has entered an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. (“Merck”) to develop ADX63365, an orally available drug candidate for the potential treatment of schizophrenia and other undisclosed indications. Allosteric modulators are an emerging new class of therapeutic agents. ADX63365, currently in preclinical development, is a positive allosteric modulator (PAM) that targets the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5), which is believed to be important as a target for the treatment of schizophrenia and other conditions. The deal also includes mGluR5 PAM backup compounds discovered by Addex.”
