America’s biopharmaceutical research companies are testing nearly 200 medicines to fight various mental disorders afflicting millions of patients worldwide. These potential medicines, either in clinical trials or under review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), include 52 for depression, 37 for schizophrenia and 26 for anxiety disorders.

Examples of new cutting-edge approaches to fight mental illnesses include a medicine to potentially treat various symptoms arising from schizophrenia with diminished side effects, an intranasal drug for anxiety to improve symptoms within several minutes of administration and a potential first-in-class medication to treat major depression that employs patients’ own neural stem cells to protect the central nervous system against damage from chronic exposure to stress.

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) president & CEO John J. Castellani said, "Mental illnesses do not discriminate and can have a profound impact on people's lives. They come in many different forms and impact patients in many different ways. That is why biopharmaceutical research companies are working on new and better paths of treatments for patients battling these disabling conditions."

An estimated 450 million people worldwide suffer some form of mental disorder. In India, as per the 2011 census report, there are around 80 million people living with mental disorders. Independent studies say 20 million patients need immediate medical attention for some form of mental disorder or the other.

Mental illness is also increasingly affecting productivity and well-being in the workplace. Scores of software professionals have committed suicide in the past, many suffering severe depression before ending their lives. Little is however being done to promote employee health and mental well-being. A 2011-2012 Towers Watson India Health and Productivity Survey discovered that only 13 per cent employers directly tackle issues such as the stigma of seeking help for mental health issues. Moreover, communication on health and productivity objectives and programs does not garner as much support as communication on other strategic business objectives. Only 21 per cent of employers collect health risk data, and even fewer track changes in employee health risks. The study suggests the need to make mental health (including stress-related issues) a priority at the workplace.

By 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that depression will be the largest cause of disability worldwide. It also estimates that by 2025, mental illness will catch up with heart disease or even overtake it as the biggest global health concern.

Ever since the war on non-communicable diseases was declared in the early 1970s, biopharmaceutical research and innovation companies have helped millions of patients manage or beat several diseases through innovative solutions.

Despite drug development being a complex, challenging task, over the past few decades, significant progress in biopharmaceutical research and development has led to steady, improved access to quality medicines across the world. In countries where industry-friendly policies exist, most blockbuster drugs are now available within a year of their global launch.