Biomarkers for the development of antidepressant and anxiolytic drugs

Abstract

Depression and anxiety disorders are by far the most prevalent mental disorders. Even though current treatments are effective overall, a large number of patients treated with antidepressants do not benefit sufficiently from therapy. To improve this unsatisfactory situation, drugs with a diverse profile of action are required to provide a more specific treatment to patients not sufficiently responding to standard therapy. Biomarkers sensitive for drug action are the ideal tools to identify compounds with a specific profile of action at an early stage of drug development. This chapter summarizes the suitability of neuroendocrine tests, sleep and other EEG markers, imaging techniques, gene expression, and protein markers for serving as clinical biomarkers in depression and anxiety, and discusses their potential for improving drug discovery and development. © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008.