Articles in 2008

How might the challenges of demonstrating the value of new drugs be approached in the context of growing pressures on health-care budgets?

New studies have affirmed the complexity of genetic changes in solid tumours, but also revealed commonalities in the associated pathways, suggesting that a pathway-oriented perspective could aid cancer drug discovery and therapy.

Novel immunomodulatory agents have considerably improved the treatment of multiple sclerosis in recent years, but inhibiting disease progression remains a central challenge. This article describes how advances in the understanding of the immunopathogenesis of multiple sclerosis have identified a range of novel targets for intervention and potential therapeutic agents acting at various steps in the pathogenic cascade, including different aspects of T-cell and B-cell function and neuroprotective strategies.

Despite improvements in European regulatory standards and procedures, the occurrence of failed or problematic marketing authorization applications for biotechnological products remains common. Here, Schäffner-Dallmann and Schneider identify common regulatory concerns and consider strategies that may help prevent such issues.

Cardiac glycosides, a diverse family of naturally derived compounds that inhibit Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase, have been used for many years for the treatment of heart failure and atrial arrhythmia. This article discusses recent evidence highlighting additional signal transduction roles for Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase, and associated potential new therapeutic appplications for glycoside-based drugs in a range of diseases — most notably cancer, for which the first generation of such agents are currently in clinical trials.

The President of the Critical Path Institute discusses the successes to date and future challenges of helping the FDA to improve the process for developing safe, innovative drugs.

The wealth of genomic data for pathogens that cause tropical diseases hold considerable promise for the discovery of novel drugs. An international consortium describes how the TDR Targets database integrates this data with related biochemical and pharmacological data to facilitate the identification and prioritization of drug targets.

With no specific cures for most acquired chronic kidney diseases, current efforts are focused on preventing disease progression. Here, Remuzzi and colleagues discuss examples of novel drugs and biologics that might be used to target the inflammatory and profibrotic process, and glomerular injury, highlighting results from recent clinical trials.