Novartis, a Swiss drug company, has rebooted its neuroscience research group at its Cambridge campus and lured a Stanford University neurobiologist to exploit “major” new tools that are giving scientists greater insight into how the brain and diseases, such Parkinson’s and depression, work, according to a Boston Globe report.

Ricardo Dolmetsch, Novartis’ new global head of neuroscience, told the Globe, that this is a medical need that hasn’t been met.

Novartis plans to add 30 neuroscience positions this year, and another 70 by the end of 2014. If accomplished, the Kendall Square research base would have 2,400 employees.

Novartis closed its Basel, Switzerland-based neuroscience headquarters in 2011, according to the Globe report.

Advances in genetic and stem cell science has made Dolmetsch optimistic, the Globe reports. Now, researchers can take a skin cell from a person with a neurological condition, reprogram it into a stem cell and morph it into a brain cell.

Examination of said newly created cell may help scientists see how the disease affects the brain.

Novartis should then be able to produce “vast quantities” of personalized brain cells so the company can test various drugs to see which ones help the cells perform better, Dolmetsch told the Globe.

Steven Hyman, a Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology professor at Harvard and director of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, told the Globe, that the lull drug development advancement for mental diseases stems largely from a lack of understanding the brain.

Hyman added, that locating the genes is not enough; drug companies must produce effective treatments based on these discoveries.

The Globe feature mentions that drug companies “backed away” from neuroscience drug developments earlier this decade when they were unable to produce new treatments for brain-based diseases.

According to published reports, Pfizer is one of many drug “giants” to recently eliminate or cut back their brain disorder research.

With neurological conditions accounting for 20 to 30 percent of disabilities worldwide, Hyman believes companies should resume working on brain conditions. If they wait to long, Hyman told the Globe, their competitors will take advantage.

Photo via Boston Biz Journal