Unmet Therapeutic Needs

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Abstract
Modern pharmacotherapy for schizophrenia began with the introduction of chlorpromazine in 1952. About the same time principles from social psychiatry were being implemented, and the locus of care shifted away from chronic care hospitals. Empirically validated forms of psychosocial treatment have now joined drug treatment in evidence-based practice. But it has been difficult to robustly alter long-term outcome.1 Current treatments appear most robust in effecting psychosis,2 and there has been little progress on the aspects of schizophrenia that appear to account for poor functional outcomes. In this regard, impaired cognition and primary negative symptoms represent unmet therapeutic needs and challenge the field for innovation and discovery.