Challenges and Opportunities in Central Nervous System Drug Discovery

The development of new drugs for disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) presents unique challenges when compared with other disease areas. These include an incomplete understanding of the biology of multifaceted CNS conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, the presence of a blood-brain barrier that restricts the flow of molecules to the brain, and a lack of clinically relevant animal models in which to test new drugs. In this review, we aim to discuss some of these issues at each stage of the drug discovery process, provide examples of recent work addressing them, and consider the options available to researchers in the future.