Drug development for disorders of the nervous system: Challenge and opportunity at the pharmaceutical-biotech-academic interface

Drug development for epilepsy, drug abuse, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, narcolepsy, and other less profitable neurological and psychiatric diseases has often had an uncertain past without the innovation and investment of major pharmaceutical company sponsors. A change has occurred in recent years as newer molecular techniques have made drug discovery accessible to both larger and smaller biopharmaceutical companies, but even more rapid innovation is possible through an alignment of interests by industry, academic, and government collaborators. Several newer medications for epilepsy and drug addiction have emerged only because of cooperative interactions between academic, pharmaceutical company, and government investigators. This sets the stage for even more rapid innovation for underrepresented diseases in the future.