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The source of this article is ScienceDaily: http://tinyurl.com/8lscf Government to fund new drug research WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- The government plans to fund clinical trials of experimental drugs to induce U.S. drug firms to invest in riskier medical research. The clinical trials are part of an effort by the National Institutes of Health to resolve the dearth of breakthrough drugs for diseases that have long stymied researchers, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The proposal could bring pure research out of university labs and into the marketplace. "The hardest part about getting a totally new drug for a new indication (symptom or medical problem) to market is that no consensus exists over how to prove it works," said Wayne Fenton, who leads the NIH project. The new program is starting with schizophrenia which has not had a truly new drug-treatment approach in 50 years, the report said. The $13 million cost of the project is small, but if it succeeds, major drug makers may pour investment into the new trials' target area such as schizophrenia because of the huge market potential, the Journal said. But some drug makers are skeptical about the project because they prefer to keep control of their research so as not to tip off competitors, the report said. Copyright 2005 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn