Gaps in our understanding of the causes and progression of brain disorders have hampered efforts to satisfy major unmet medical needs in this field, but this situation is changing. Wong and Licinio overview 50 years of antidepressant research and highlight the potential for the development of conceptually novel drugs. And 'Fresh from the Pipeline' features memantine hydrochloride, the first drug to be approved by the FDA for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. Finding novel ways to deliver medicines is a high priority, and Robert Langer and colleagues discuss the transdermal delivery of drugs. The number of high-throughput screening technologies for identifying modulators of G-protein-coupled receptors has increased significantly in recent years. Williams discusses several of these technologies, with an emphasis on factors to consider when choosing between them. Techniques for ligand–receptor pairing can lead to the elucidation of biological function. Foster and colleagues illustrate the power of cytokine–receptor pairing in accelerating the understanding of function, citing several examples leading to candidate drugs. Correcting oxygen deficit using modified haemoglobins (Hbs) has been limited by toxicity problems. Alayash highlights current protective strategies aimed at producing safe Hb-based products. Biotechnology plays an important role in drug discovery, and big pharma is increasingly looking to licence the best of the field. In 'From the Analyst's Couch', Renfrey and Featherstone look at some of the strategies used by pharmaceutical companies when licencing drugs or technologies. In the first perspective, Kettler and Marjanovic discuss how biotechnology companies can be engaged in finding solutions to diseases of poverty in the developing world. Biotechnology, and the excitement it generates, is the theme of the final perspective, in which Glassman and Sun give their opinions on how to evaluate new scientific and medical advances.
