商业周刊:阻止自杀的药物(2)（在线收听）

The reasons it isn't aren't strictly medical.

这种药物尚未获批，并非完全出于医疗方面的原因。

Over the past three decades, pharmaceutical companies have conducted hundreds of trials for at least 10 antidepressants to treat severe PMS, social anxiety disorder, and any number of conditions.

过去三十年来，制药公司已经对至少10种抗抑郁药进行了数百次试验，旨在治疗严重的经前综合症、社交焦虑症等疾病。

What they've almost never done is test their drugs on the sickest people, those on the verge of suicide.

但他们几乎从未在病情最严重的患者，即那些濒临自杀的人身上测试过这些药物。

There are ethical considerations: Doctors don't want to give a placebo to a person who's about to kill himself.

这里面有出于道德方面的考虑，医生不想给即将自杀的人服用安慰剂。

And reputational concerns: A suicide in a drug trial could hurt a medication's sales prospects.

此外，还涉及声誉问题。如果在药物试验过程中出现患者自杀事件，可能会损害药物的销售前景。

The risk-benefit calculation has changed amid the suicide epidemic in the U.S. From 1999 to 2016, the rate of suicides increased by 30 percent.

在1999年至2016年美国自杀事件频繁出现期间，风险收益的计算发生了变化，自杀率增长30%。

It's now the second-leading cause of death for 10- to 34-year-olds, behind accidents. (Globally the opposite is true: Suicide is decreasing.)

目前，10到34岁人的死亡原因中，自杀排名第二，仅次于意外事故的发生率。（而从全球范围看，情况却恰恰相反：自杀率正在下降。）

Growing economic disparity, returning veterans traumatized by war, the opioid crisis, easy access to guns—these have all been cited as reasons for the rise in America.

不断增大的贫富差距、遭受战争创伤的退伍军人、阿片类药物危机、容易获得枪支等，都被认为是美国自杀率升高的原因。

There's been no breakthrough in easing any of these circumstances. But there is, finally, a serious quest for a suicide cure.

虽然上述各种问题还没有任何缓解的方法，但好在人们终于开始认真地探索治疗自杀的途径了。

Ketamine is at the center, and crucially the pharmaceutical industry now sees a path.

氯胺酮就是关注的焦点，至关重要的是，制药行业现在看到了一条道路。

The first ketamine-based drug, from Johnson & Johnson, could be approved for treatment-resistant depression by March and suicidal thinking within two years.

强生公司生产的第一种氯胺酮类药物，可能在3月前获批用于抗抑郁治疗，并在两年内获批用于自杀性思维的治疗。

Allergan Plc is not far behind in developing its own fast acting antidepressant that could help suicidal patients. How this happened is one of the most hopeful tales of scientific research in recent memory.

健康医疗公司爱力根公司也紧随其后，正在研发能够帮助自杀患者的抗抑郁速效药。这也是近些年来，最能使人怀抱希望的一则科研传奇。

Dennis Charney, Dean of the Icahn School of at Mount Sinai in New York, works from an office filled with family pictures, diplomas, and awards from a long career in research.

纽约西奈山伊坎学院院长丹尼斯·查尼所工作的办公室中，摆满了他和家人的照片、学位证书，以及长期从事研究工作获得的各种奖项。

One thing on the wall is different from the rest: a patent for the use of a nasal-spray form of ketamine as a treatment for suicidal patients.

而办公室的墙上挂着一件与众不同的物品，那是用于治疗自杀患者的一种喷雾式氯胺酮的专利证书。

The story of the drug is in some ways the story of Charney's career.

这种药物的研发故事，在某种程度上也是查尼的职业生涯故事。