A decision by leading drug companies to pull out abruptly from research into brain disorders such as depression and schizophrenia leaves families without hope and will have a huge financial impact on society, senior scientists are warning. Recent announcements by companies such as UK-based GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca that they no longer intend to research new antidepressant drugs has effectively marked an end to the Prozac era, when leading drug companies vied to produce rival blockbuster pills that would be prescribed by GPs to millions of people with mild to moderate depression.
