Developments in the Frontiers of Diagnosis and Treatment for Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia Receive Extensive Attention
The first-ever Asia Pacific Psychiatric Conference hosted by the Luye Pharma Group recently took place in Nanjing. Dozens of psychiatrists and experts from 8 countries and regions including China, Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand gathered at the conference to hold discussions on the frontiers of psychiatry as well as the future direction for diagnosis and treatment strategies.
The presidium of the conference consisted of Professor Fang Yiru, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Society of Psychiatry under the Chinese Medical Association, and Director of the Shanghai Mental Health Center’s Clinical Center, Dr. Lo Tak Lam, Professor of Psychiatry from the University of Hong Kong, and Chairman of the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong, and Professor Su Dongping, Professor of Psychiatry from the National Yang-Ming University in Taiwan.
Focusing on bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, the attendees shared their insights on the academic developments in the frontiers, the latest schemes for diagnosis and treatment in clinical practice, as well as clinical case studies, covering the developments and challenges in various stages including the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of mental illness.
The Asia Pacific region faces a heavy burden in mental illness, and the low diagnosis rate remains a major challenge for countries in the region
According to the Mental Health Integration Index Results for Asia-Pacific published by The Economist Intelligence Unit in 2016, mental diseases accounted for 9.3% of the overall disease burden in the Asia Pacific region, and mental health is the second largest contributor to years lost due to disability (YLDs) in this region. It is estimated that mental diseases will cause the productivity of China and India to decrease by over $9 trillion and $2 trillion respectively from 2012 to 2030. In Australia and New Zealand, mental illness currently knocks 3.5% and 5% respectively off GDP. In Korea where suicide is an extremely severe problem, the total economic loss caused by suicides in 2012 alone was up to $5.9 billion, slightly lower than 0.5% of the country’s GDP for that year.
Despite the heavy burden caused by mental diseases to the public, the visit rate and diagnosis rate of mental illness have been low in Asia Pacific. Across the region, patients that have never received any treatment are over 50% and 90% in developed countries and developing countries respectively. Problems such as people’s discrimination against/ misunderstanding of mental illness, the lack of professional psychiatrists, and the uneven distribution of medical resources vary from one country to another in Asia Pacific, causing a low diagnosis rate. It’s urgent to drive team building and increase public awareness throughout this region.
Asia Pacific experts hold heated discussions in the academic frontiers and on future strategies and directions for diagnosis and treatment
During the conference, psychiatrists from Asia Pacific countries and regions shared their insights on the academic frontiers of mental health. Their discussions touched a wide range of topics about schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, including therapeutic targets, progress of clinical trials, and potential breakthrough therapies. They also learned from each other with respect to diagnosis and treatment experiences as well as patient types by sharing case studies. Meanwhile, they also discussed sustained release dosage forms. According to them, how to improve patient compliance and further improve prognosis through more convenient and more friendly ways to deliver drugs is also one of the hot topics in clinical studies today.
Luye Pharma drives CNS studies to serve patients around the world
This was the first time for Luye Pharma to host the Asia Pacific Psychiatric Conference. The company’s commitment to this area was proven by the influence of the conference and the depth of the discussions. Zhou Jun, Vice President of International Market at Luye Pharma, said at the conference: “I am very excited to see that this Psychiatric Conference has received attention from and been participated by so many physicians and scholars in the Asia Pacific region. Luye Pharma hopes to continue to organize more academic exchanges and work with central nervous system experts and scholars to drive progress of clinical diagnosis and treatment in this field; we also hope to provide patients with more innovative drugs to help alleviate their disease burden and improve their quality of life.”
The central nervous system is one of the core strategic areas for Luye Pharma. Multiple drugs in development have entered the late clinical stage, and a series of products have already been launched, including Seroquel and Seroquel XR, Rivastigmine transdermal patches, Fentanyl patches, and Buprenorphine patches, covering more than 80 countries and regions in the world. Meanwhile, Luye Pharma has 7 major production bases and over 30 production lines around the world, and has established the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) quality management and control system, to help global patients benefit from its research findings.
