Lessons for the future: a review of sepsis past and present

Sepsis continues to intrigue and challenge drug developers because of the high unmet need for this illness. The large market potential for sepsis is counterbalanced by the historical failure of multiple drug candidates for this indication that have not demonstrated clinical benefit. The failure of successful drug candidates can be attributed in part to a rudimentary under-standing of complex sepsis pathophysiology, unsophisticated and poor clinical trial design, and an over-reliance on preclinical models for proof-of-concept. Recent significant scientific advancements in these areas are expected to have a positive impact on sepsis drug development. This article reviews several treatment approaches for sepsis that are in clinical development to highlight the scope of research in this field. Although a near-term clinical breakthrough for sepsis is not imminent, current research provides a substantial amount of hope for the field.