Agencies within the Public Health Service are hoping that pharmaceutical companies--many of which produce antidepressants, analgesics, and other chemicals that affect the central nervous system (CNS)--will play a larger role in developing compounds that might one day wean addicts from heroin and cocaine. And they are trying to overcome the industry's traditional reluctance to engage in such investigations by offering them research money, joint development, and the promise of an expedited review of any drugs generated in the lab.
Many industry officials remain reluctant to join the war, however. They want assurances from the government that the fight won't cost their firms hundreds of millions of lost investment dollars and untold medical suits.
The government-industry conference is part of a fledgling program by the new Medications Development Division at the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). Established last March, the division is charged to help discover, test, and prepare for ...
