Martin M. Katz: Clinical Trials of Antidepressants: How Changing the Model Can Uncover New, More Effective Molecules

Martin M. Katz’s reply to Per Bech’s comment

Per Bech captures the main issue in the book, and fully endorses the need to extend the assessment of drug actions in clinical trials to include the componential, dimensional approach. Bech, who sharpened the Hamilton Rating Scale to make it even more effective in clinical trials, is aware of that scale’s strengths and limitations and strongly supports my multifaceted approach to the problem. He is one of the leading authorities in psychopharmacology in Europe, well in touch with how clinical trials are conducted throughout the pharmaceutical industry on both continents. I thank him for support of my efforts to encourage the field to broaden the assessment effort in these trials and to render them more productive in seeking new, more effective molecules.

Martin M. Katz

July 14, 2016