Asthma Therapeutics: New treatment options and emerging drug discovery targets

This report produced by LeadDiscovery in collaboration with head of Thoracic Medicine at the National Heart and Lung Institute, asthma field-leader and panelist for the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), Professor Peter Barnes, focuses on the evaluation of emerging asthma therapeutics and provides a state of the art analysis of those drug discovery targets destined to underlie future therapeutics. This report is placed in the context of the asthma therapeutics market and current pharmaceutical development activity.

It has proved to be very difficult to develop new classes of anti-asthma therapy, partly because existing drugs, especially inhaled corticosteroids and combination inhalers, are so effective. New classes of therapeutics are expected to allow for oral treatment which will further improve patient compliance and possibly offer improved efficacy to treatment resistant patients. This report evaluates the major therapeutic targets currently under investigation offering an expert view of the potential and the limitations of each target. Such an evaluation is important to the success of drug discovery efforts since the asthma arena is characterized by targets that have initially offer promise but have failed to meet expectations in the clinic.

The only new class of drug developed in the last 30 years are anti-leukotrienes, which are far less effective than inhaled corticosteroids. New bronchodilators have been difficult to develop as new drugs are less effective than b2-agonists and have more side effects. Mediator antagonists have proved disappointing as so many mediators are involved in asthma.

A number of emerging targets are however especially promising including IL-13, TACE inhibitors, IL-10, dissociated steroids, PDE4, IgE and vaccine therapies. Proof of concept data and expert opinion on each of these targets is offered in this report. Many other targets are also discussed even though they have yet to be adequately investigated. For each of these, available data is provided and the risks associated with these targets are analyzed in order to guide future research.

The report concludes with a full listing of therapeutics on the market or in the with profiles of those in advanced development or those that have been launched; a strategic analysis is then provided underlining those targets perceived to be the most promising and how these targets should be exploited.