Brussels, 01/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - An EU-funded research project launched recently will help to uncover the genetic factors linked to depression to develop new drug treatments. The Integrated Project, named NEWMOOD, has received EUR7.2 million in funding from the EU's Sixth Research Framework Programme (FP6) and aims to identify genes involved in triggering depression. This will help researchers to develop new drugs over the next five years to treat it and improve understanding of its causes. The drugs are set to revolutionise antidepressant drugs, which have not changed much over the past 30 years. The project, co-ordinated by the University of Manchester (United Kingdom) involves partners from 13 laboratories in 10 European countries including Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and Spain. 120 million people worldwide suffer from depression.