AZ teams with US univ to fight depression

Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca and the US Columbia University Medical Center have entered a new research collaboration to examine how neurogenesis might offer novel approaches to treating depression and anxiety.

For more than a century, the prevailing scientific rationale was that neurogenesis only occurs in the developing brain. However, recent research shows that physical activity, enriched environmental conditions and antidepressant therapy can stimulate neurogenesis in the adult brain. Identifying novel antidepressant targets and potential differentiation between existing and future generations of antidepressants will be key aims for the collaboration.

Rene Hen, professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at the Medical Center, said: "through our basic science investigations and our collaboration with AstraZeneca, we will work to harness the potential of adult-born neurons to stimulate hippocampal function and thereby possibly treat specific mood and cognitive disorders faster and with less side effects."