Strategies to Overcome Blood-Brain Barrier: Complex Biology of CNS Diseases Continues to Hamper Development of Effective Drugs

摘要

Central nervous system (CNS) diseases are a major focus of the pharmaceutical industry, with CNS drugs representing some of its most successful products. These include Pfizer's Zoloft, Eli Lilly's Cymbalta, and Abilify from Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka. Drug discovery and development researchers, however, have experienced difficulty developing CNS drugs that can complete clinical trials and win regulatory approval. This is especially true for drugs that address major unmet needs in the CNS area such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, amy-otrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), stroke, brain .cancers, and metastases to the brain.