Depression Drug Discovery Service

Creative Biolabs is an innovative biotechnology company focused on drug development for depression. Different cellular and animal models of depression are available at Creative Biolabs. Our experienced scientists are dedicated to providing various in vivo and in vitro assays to facilitate the successful delivery of your preclinical drug candidates.

Overview of Depression Drug Discovery

Depression is a serious emotional disorder that threatens the physical and mental health of humans, so depression may impose a heavy economic burden on society. Common symptoms of this disease include chronic low mood, feelings of anxiety, decreased motivation, feelings of worthlessness, and recurring thoughts of death. Furthermore, depression is closely linked to an increased incidence of various diseases, such as stroke, epilepsy, cardiovascular disease, diabetes as well as cancer. Drug therapy is the most common measure for depression treatment. All antidepressants currently in use work primarily to modulate monoamine neurotransmission. Antidepressant increases cell proliferation and granulosa cell survival and reverses the stress-induced reduction in hippocampal neurogenesis. However, this method is not a good cure for depression, since drug resistance and medication adherence are the two major challenges of the treatment. In addition, these drugs take several weeks to exert effects and are effective only in some patients. Therefore, it is imperative to develop a novel concept of an antidepressant that works rapidly and safely in the majority of patients.

Fig.1 Depression Drug Discovery Platform. (Creative Biolabs)

Our Featured Cellular Models

• Primary Neuronal Cell Culture Models
• Human iPSC Derived Neuronal Cell Culture Models
• Organotypic Brain Slice Models

Animal Models of Depression at Creative Biolabs

To accelerate preclinical drug development for depression, diverse animal models were established. Through suitable modeling strategies and behavioral tests, the effect of the target drug can be largely explained. Creative Biolabs provides widely used animal models and modeling services for customers all over the world.

• Reserpine-induced model

Reserpine induces depressive phenotypes by depleting monoamines. This model causes little damage to animals and can effectively distinguish the effects of general antidepressants. What's more, the model is less time-consuming. Therefore, this model is widely used in drug discovery for depression.

• Learned helplessness model

The advantage of this model is that the animals exhibit depressive-like symptoms, essentially covering the onset of depression in humans. Additionally, this model has great potential to study the effect of genetic variation across species on depressive-like symptoms. This model is emerging as an attractive tool for depression drug development.

• Chronic mild stress model

The model has reliable predictive validity and aids in the selection of optimal antidepressants. The model not only mimics the clinical symptoms of most cases of depression in humans but also highlights that anhedonia is a key and measurable feature.

What Can We Do?

• Cell Proliferation and Viability Assays
• Drug combination assay
• Immunoassays
• Functional Assays
• Toxicity Assays

Each modeling method involves different experimental procedures, so each model has pros and cons. Treatment effects are difficult to predict using only a single animal model. For this reason, at Creative Biolabs, our professional scientists will tailor a reasonable solution according to your specific needs. Please contact us in time for more details.