Asthma--new drugs on the horizon?

Over the last ten years, much new knowledge about the pathophysiology of asthma is learnt. In parallel, a plethora of new drugs is developed for the treatment of asthma. Many of these drugs were initially enthusiastically heralded as therapeutic breakthroughs, but few were shown to have real clinical benefits. This review concisely discusses important recent developments on several classes of drugs: novel drugs such as ion channel blockers, thromboxane and leukotriene receptor antagonists, platelet activating factor (PAF) antagonists; newer developments of established drugs (in particular long-acting beta 2-adrenergic receptor agonists); and immunoregulatory drugs. The emphasis of the discussion is on clinical evaluations that are relevant in the treatment of asthmatic patients.