Abstract
At any given time, a number of drug targets are attracting considerable
interest from different pharmaceutical companies. The emergence of such
targets as hot topics of research usually becomes apparent before the
introduction of clinical candidates by a rapid increase in the level of
patenting and research activity directed toward them. Metabolic and
Inflammatory Disease R&D: An Assessment of 5 Highly Promising Therapeutic
Classes, by Peter Norman, MBA, PhD, a new report from Insight Pharma Reports,
details targets of high interest that are primarily of relevance to
inflammatory or metabolic diseases and toward which few, if any, compounds
have progressed into Phase II studies.
Such extensive patenting and research focus is no guarantee of commercial
success, as illustrated by the recent examples of lipoxygenase inhibitors and
leukotriene antagonists- with the more intensive activity directed at the
former providing negligible commercial returns while the latter led to 3
successful products. To help deal with such uncertainty, Metabolic and
Inflammatory Disease R&D: An Assessment of 5 Highly Promising Therapeutic
Classes identifies and assesses the potentially successful efforts in each
of 5 different areas:
- Chemokine antagonists
- Toll-like receptors
- Melanin-concentrating hormone antagonists
- Melanocortin MC4 agonists
- 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase inhibitors
Selection of these 5 compound classes was based on an assessment of the levels
of patenting and R&D activity directed against various targets currently of
considerable interest in creating new agents for the treatment of
inflammatory, autoimmune, or metabolic disorders.
For instance:
- In January 2007, 11 chemokine antagonists from 9 different companies were
in clinical development for the treatment of inflammatory disorders, with 2 of
these drugs being the focus of high-value commercial deals. Many more
chemokine antagonists are either in preclinical development or lead
optimization, and most of the major pharmaceutical companies have current R&D
efforts directed at chemokine receptor targets.
- For the 10 identified toll-like receptors (TLRs), current activity centers
around development of both TLR agonists and antagonists to treat conditions
ranging from sepsis to cancer. Metabolic and Inflammatory Disease R&D: An
Assessment of 5 Highly Promising Therapeutic Classes provides a thorough
analysis of these TLR potentials, plus succinct charts of Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats for these and other products in
development.
Each of the 5 target classes considered in this report has the potential to
provide high-revenue drugs, for the treatment of inflammatory disease,
obesity, and metabolic syndrome. Details are provided for the following
diseases:
Inflammatory Diseases
- Respiratory diseases
- Arthritis
Metabolic Diseases
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Metabolic Syndrome
- Lipid Disorders
Metabolic and Inflammatory Disease R&D: An Assessment of 5 Highly Promising
Therapeutic Classes details and assesses the efforts of more than 20 major
pharmaceutical companies and more than 25 additional companies to manage the
development of potential metabolic/inflammatory therapeutic products through
R&D into the clinic. Leading researchers at companies at the forefront of R&D
in these target areas offer their views of the challenges, the applications,
and the relevant clinical data that will determine their potential use in
medicine.
This report is an essential tool for individuals involved in the research,
development, licensing, and portfolio management of potential therapeutics for
metabolic and inflammatory diseases.
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