Safety concerns on the development of novel therapeutic drugs

Along with recent innovative approaches resulting in the development of new therapies such as small molecular inhibitors, therapeutic antibodies, recombinant proteins and gene therapy, there is increasing need for improved understanding of the basic molecular mechanisms that are exploited by such treatments. Helpful tools in the analysis of drug effects include high-throughput screening techniques such as microarrays, which are used in transcriptomics and pharmacogenomics. Although we are far from using these extensive and costly tests in our daily clinical routine, their application in basic research nevertheless takes us closer to individualized therapeutic strategies, in which the optimal therapeutic regimen is identified for each individual patient.