New drug targets in inflammation and immunomodulation

A meeting on New Drug Targets in Inflammation and Immunomodulation organized by the Royal Society of Chemistry brought together an international group of scientists. A number of talks on new target elucidation emphasized the huge number of potential drug targets that exist and how signaling pathways converge to use common enzymes. Pharmacological models such as chemokines, TACE and a novel approach that involves selective inhibition of lymphocyte and leukocyte trafficking will assist in characterizing the roles of newly identified proteins. Several speakers addressed aspects of medicinal chemistry and made presentations on lead generation, structure-related drug design and lead optimization and provided specific examples that cited developmental compounds. The therapeutic utility of new approaches to the treatment of inflammation was illustrated by a description of the antiarthritic effects of the TNF antagonist etanercept, which is currently under review as a fast-track product by the U.S. FDA.