Abstract
Inflammatory Disease Therapeutics: Pipelines and Competitive Dynamics comprehensively evaluates R&D efforts for six high-profile immune/inflammatory disorders:
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Psoriasis
- Lupus
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Asthma
The complexity of the immune system provides both opportunity and challenge for those in the pharmaceutical industry trying to manipulate it. There is a seemingly endless list of cytokines, receptors, and enzymes that can be disrupted in patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, and the sheer number of options leaves plenty of chances for large established players and specialized newcomers alike to carve out niches for themselves.
However, the transition from brainstorm to marketed drug is fraught with pitfalls. Targeting a single receptor or protein often means being foiled by the immune systems redundancy, while cutting too wide a swath through the system can result in unexpected side effects. Despite Herculean efforts to develop newer and better agents for treating these conditions, frustratingly few novel drugs have passed muster in clinical trials and reached the market in the last decade. The market continues to eagerly await safe and effective alternatives to existing therapies.
Inflammatory Disease Therapeutics examines the mechanisms of immune/inflammatory disease, reviews the existing drug therapies for each of the six diseases covered, and surveys some of drug development attempts that have failed in the last several years.
The report then analyzes the range of new pharmacologic approaches being explored for treating inflammatory disorders, focusing on 14 pharma/biotech company pipelines for each of the six diseases individually. New therapies to treat inflammatory diseases are evaluated using SWOT analysis to compare emerging compounds with standard therapies. These include an analysis of Bristol-Myers Squibbs abatacept, the next novel rheumatoid arthritis treatment likely to be approved; a comparison of adhesion molecule blockers with standard inflammatory bowel disease therapy; and an evaluation of MBP peptide vaccines for multiple sclerosis therapy, an approach that could arrest the disease process rather than merely treating symptoms.