How AbbVie is working to push boundaries in mental health research

Mental health is a major topic right now and can be found in media headlines, across social channels and day to day conversations worldwide. Celebrities, athletes and politicians are opening up more about their struggles with mental illnesses, which affect almost 970 million people globally.

Roughly, one in eight people around the world are living with a mental illness, with anxiety and depressive disorders being the most common, according to the World Health Organization.¹

To help people manage those illnesses, AbbVie is exploring novel mechanisms of action and research platforms to develop next-generation medicines. The company is also pushing beyond traditional methods used to measure psychiatric disorders in clinical research by looking for novel biomarkers to give scientists more information about the disorders they are studying like depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety and PTSD. And that’s only some of the work the company is doing to address the most difficult challenges in psychiatry.

Unraveling the complexities in psychiatry 
Despite decades of research and development, the science surrounding mental illness remains notoriously difficult.

“We can't measure mood in a mouse the same way you might measure a tumor,” said Julie Adams, M.D., Head, Precision Medicine Neuroscience, AbbVie. “Further, lab-grown neurons may teach us how a particular molecule influences an isolated neuron. But in a brain that neuron is influenced by hundreds of molecules and thousands of other neurons. It is a bit like trying to learn about the galaxy by studying the fragments of an asteroid.”

Another challenge is the way psychiatrists diagnose patients. Whereas other specialties have vast laboratory methods to determine valuable information about a patient’s health — and make related diagnoses and treatment decisions — psychiatrists have to consider what patients tell them and how they behave.  

Additionally, finding the right treatment option can also prove challenging. For example, many people diagnosed with depression still have unresolved symptoms after beginning treatment. Moreover, some medications can take weeks to take effect. Others come with myriad side effects, often leading to treatment discontinuation. 

These challenges have made exiting psychiatry the more accessible option for many companies. But those living with mental health conditions worldwide depend on the medical and scientific community to continue researching and developing new treatment options. 

That’s why AbbVie researchers are unwavering in their commitment. They are embarking on a new frontier in psychiatric drug development where innovative treatments are on the horizon. 

New frontiers in psychiatric research and development
To bring forth the next generation of therapies, AbbVie is addressing the challenges of psychiatric drug development from multiple fronts.  

The company is developing treatments for psychiatric and neurological conditions, including a potential next-generation antipsychotic with a new mechanism of action targeting the muscarinic receptor to treat schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease psychosis. 

AbbVie is also advancing the development of next-generation psychedelics and neuroplastogens which are designed to retain the therapeutic promise of earlier molecules while addressing some of their practical limitations.

AbbVie scientists are also looking for psychiatric biomarkers using advanced tools such as high-frequency data sampling of mood and behavior, AI-enabled analysis of older methods such as EEG (recordings of electrical patterns in the brain), and functional imaging (visual recordings of various brain activities taken while people are doing specific tasks). 

Leveraging precision medicine and advances in genetic analyses and other physiologic parameters, AbbVie is discovering connections between biology and behavior in ways previously unavailable to psychiatric drug discovery. 

Psychiatry remains a complex field, but AbbVie is committed to unraveling these complexities and focused on uncovering new insights to help drive meaningful and impactful change for patients. 

References:

1. World Health Organization, “Mental Disorders.”  https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders Accessed 28 September 2024