Sussex Drug Discovery Centre awarded £1.8m to improve Valium
The Sussex Drug Discovery Centre - part of the School of Life Sciences - has been awarded a £1.8 million grant by the Medical Research Council to combat the side effects of anxiety drugs like Valium.
The Rolling Stones song Mother’s Little Helper is about Valium
Professor of Molecular Pharmacology, John Atack, said: “Everyone knows what anxiety is like - whether it’s a job interview or waiting outside the exam hall. But it’s hard to appreciate how debilitating pathological levels of anxiety can be.
“These disorders are surprisingly common and the current treatments leave a lot to be desired. One of the most effective treatments are a class of drugs called benzodiazepines, and Valium is the most well-known.
“When Valium was first released it was hailed as a wonder drug. The Rolling Stones sang about it as Mother’s Little Helper, describing how Valium ‘helps her on her way, gets her through her busy day.’
“But one of the side effects of Valium is that it makes people sleepy, no good if you want to drive a car or think clearly. It wasn’t long before these types of drugs fell out of favour as their side effects became better known. But now we know how Valium causes sedation.”
Led by Professors John Atack, Simon Ward and Martin Gosling, the team at the Sussex Drug Discovery Centre (SDDC) will use state-of-the-art biological and medicinal chemistry methods to develop next-generation drugs.
Their aim has been described as the holy grail of psychopharmacology: identifying a non-sedating anxiolytic – in other words, Valium without the side effects.
The SDDC research is one of 12 new treatments, diagnostics and medical technologies to receive funding from the eighth round of the Biomedical Catalyst, a joint programme run by the Medical Research Council and the government’s innovation experts, Innovate UK.
The Biomedical Catalyst supports UK academics and small to medium-sized businesses seeking to take their research from discovery through to commercialisation to deliver patient benefit.
Banner image: Staff of the Sussex Drug Discovery Centre