California dreamin' 'bout endothelin: emerging new therapeutics

Progress in our understanding of endothelins has been extremely rapid since their discovery in 1988. A number of pharmaceutical companies have developed potent, orally active, nonpeptide endothelin receptor antagonists with efficacies in a wide variety of animal disease models and potential for treating human disease. However, only time will tell whether or not these compounds are developed into drugs that are perceived as worthy of a place in the therapeutic marketplace. If this is the case, endothelin will have been promoted from the status of striking scientific discovery to therapeutic target in a remarkably short period.