DeCure's autonomous Psychiatry AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for anxiety disorder — screening already-approved drugs against its 42-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleAnxiety disorder maps to a 42-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for anxiety disorder is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) — DRD2 is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet 8alphadrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 9BS9 · 2.28 Å · ligand (8alpha)-N,N-diethyl-6-methyl-9,10-didehydroergoline-8-carboxamide (7LD). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental disorders in the United States and a significant cause of disability. A 1996 overview noted that substantial advances had been made in identifying and treating panic disorder, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder, and that these common, usually chronic disorders confer significant disability to untreated sufferers. The overview discussed evidence for efficacy of various pharmacological agents, including relevant oral dosing and plasma-level data, and both acute and long-term treatment, but also the disadvantages of medication treatment. Important clinical questions remained to be addressed by psychopharmacological research at that time.
A 2009 chapter on genetic animal models stated that conditions such as generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder cause undue suffering and economic burden. While the neural underpinnings of this spectrum may have been identified, further analysis was deemed necessary to generate pharmacologically significant data. The development of specific knockout models with anxiety-like phenotypes had been instrumental to understanding anxiety spectrum disorders due to their specificity of affected targets.
A 2025 review reported that while there is ongoing research into posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and schizophrenia, there is a relative lack of innovative drugs being investigated for anxiety disorders. The review summarised current pharmacological treatments for panic disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobias, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, alpha- and beta-adrenergic medications such as propranolol and clonidine, and GABAergic medications such as benzodiazepines. New pharmacotherapeutic drugs being investigated in adults include serotonergic agents, glutamate modulators, GABAergic medications, neuropeptides, neurosteroids, alpha- and beta-adrenergic agents, and natural remedies. No concrete numbers for survival, response rates, or sample sizes were provided in any of these abstracts. What remains missing is large-scale, well-funded clinical trial data for the emerging therapies, clear patient stratification to identify who might benefit from which agent, and a pipeline of genuinely innovative drugs rather than variations on existing mechanisms.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · 1996 · 82 citations
Recent developments in the psychopharmacology of anxiety disorders.
AbstractAnxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental disorders in the United States. In the past 3 decades, substantial advances have been made in the ability to identify and treat anxiety disorders including panic disorder (PD), social phobia (SP), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is now known that these common, usually chronic disorders confer significant disability to untreated sufferers. This overview highlights some of the important advances in pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders. Evidence for efficacy of the various pharmacological agents (including relevant oral dosing and plasma-level data) and of acute and long-term treatment, and the disadvantages of medication treatment are discussed. Finally, some important clinical questions remaining to be addressed by psychopharmacological research are reviewed.
AbstractConditions such as generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder cause undue suffering and economic burden on a substantial portion of our society. The prevalence and serious debilitating effects of anxiety disorders increases the necessity for fast and efficacious understanding of the neurobiological pathways associated with these maladies. While the neural underpinnings of this spectrum may have been identified, further analysis is necessary to generate pharmacologically significant data. The development of new molecular genetics techniques applied towards the generation of specific knockout models with anxiety-like phenotypes have been instrumental to our understanding of anxiety spectrum disorders due to their specificity of effected targets. This chapter will discuss the individual anxiety spectrum disorders with a focus on the animal models displaying relevant phenotypes for neurobehavioral research.
International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology · 2025 · 0 citations · open access
Pharmacological breakthroughs in anxiety management: exploring traditional and emerging therapies
AbstractAnxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorders and a significant cause of disability. While there is ongoing research into posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and schizophrenia, there is a relative lack of innovative drugs being investigated for anxiety disorders. The first goal of this review is to summarize current pharmacological treatments (both approved and off-label) for panic disorder (PD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD) and specific phobias (SP), which include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), antipsychotics, alpha- and beta-adrenergic medications (e.g., propranolol, clonidine) and GABAergic medications (benzodiazepines). Second, we will look at new pharmacotherapeutic drugs being investigated for the treatment of anxiety disorders in adults. The pathways and neurotransmitters reviewed include serotonergic agents, glutamate modulators, GABAergic medications, neuropeptides, neurosteroids, alpha- and beta-adrenergic agents and natural remedies.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
