Neural Circuitry-Related Biomarkers for Drug Development in Psychiatry: An Industry Perspective

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Psychiatric drug development faces challenges in assessing neurobiological impact and patient stratification.
• Reliable methods are needed to quantify the effects of pharmacological interventions on neural circuits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review existing and emerging approaches for measuring brain circuit modulation.
• To highlight the potential of these tools in psychiatric drug development.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of past, present, and emerging techniques.
• Analysis of tools for capturing outcomes of brain circuit modulation.

Main Results:

• Several approaches exist to capture the effects of modulating brain circuits.
• These methods are becoming increasingly viable for drug development.

Conclusions:

• Validated tools for assessing neural circuit changes are essential for psychiatric drug discovery.
• The field is ready to implement these advanced methodologies in clinical trials.