Cx43 as a target for improved wound healing: Worldwide, an estimated 95 million people suffer from wounds that result in tissue loss. While acute wounds heal uneventfully, chronic wounds such as ulcers do not and often persist for months or years. In the case of the elderly, average hospital stays are increased by at least one week, resulting in an additional $1.5 billion in healthcare costs in the US alone. This editorial focuses on the development of connexin43, blocking of which produces a dramatic improvement in wound healing. In this feature we also describe how antisense technology has been applied to develop a licensing opportunity in this area...[more on these findings]

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IDEC-152 as a candidate treatment of asthma:  Readers of DailyUpdates, LeadDiscovery's daily tracker for the drug discovery sector, or indeed anyone who follows advances in the pharmaceutical industry will be aware of major changes occurring in the field of asthma therapeutics. For example, Novartis announced on June 23rd that the novel IgE-blocker Xolair® (Omalizumab) has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe persistent asthma in adults and adolescents. IgE was one target evaluated in LeadDiscovery's recent state of the art of asthma therapeutics report (Click here). The development of antibodies which neutralizes IgE represent one approach, here we highlight a second related approach, the development of antibodies to CD23, a cell surface molecule involved in IgE production and inflammation in allergic disorders...[more on these findings]

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Advances in the development of histone deacetylase inhibitors: The drive to develop improved treatments of cancer has resulted in the development of a number of strategies designed to regulate transcription. The retinoic acids represent one early target (see LeadDiscovery's recent report “The retinoids: Therapeutic & pharmaceutical opportunities”), the field of histone deacetylation represents a second area receiving much interest (Click here to access "Histone deacetylase inhibitors: Redefining pharmaceutical approaches to the treatment of cancer"). The latter is rapidly advancing which the continuous emergence of new data including a clinical study recently published by Aton Pharma. This study demonstrating the tolerability and efficacy of one of the prototypic HDAC inhibitors, SAHA is highlighted here...[more on these findings]

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Stimulating Munc1-13 as a means of increasing insulin release: There are some 130 million diagnosed diabetics in the world, a figure that is predicted to increase to 300 million by 2025. The market for diabetes therapeutics is also rising with global sales reportedly topping $8.1 billion for the 12 months to September 2000, a 19% increase over the previous 12 months (for a full analysis of diabetes therapeutics and market opportunities click here). Further increases are inevitable and the market for diabetes medications could exceed $20 billion by 2006.Oral antidiabetic drugs, the leading class of drugs used to treat the disease, accounted for almost 63% of sales during this period. Oral antidiabetic drugs have traditionally focussed on metformin and sulphonylurea, the latter increasing insulin secretion. The insulinotropic agent Repaglinide was approved in 1997 offering another inulinotropic option, stimulating the release of insulin from the pancreatic beta cells by closure of ATP-dependent potassium channels. Transport of insulin out of the beta cell involves the mobilization, priming and secretion of insulin granules. Here we highlight recent data showing that the expression of Munc13-1, a protein that stimulates the release of insulin in the presence of glucose, is reduced in the diabetic state. This important publication suggests that the therapeutic up-regulation of Munc13-1 either by gene therapy or by pharmacological intervention may stimulate glucose stimulated insulin release through a mechanism that differs from currently used insulinotropic agents and which is directly related to the etiology of diabetes...[more on these findings]

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Combined radiation/SU11248 therapy for the treatment of cancer: Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, is crucial to a number of physiological processes such as reproduction, development and tissue repair, as well as in disease states including cancer, rheumatoid arthritis. Tumor vascularization is key to the development of solid tumors and the vast majority of pharmaceutical activity surrounding angiogenesis relates to the development of therapeutic strategies to destroy existing tumor vasculature or to prevent neovascularization. Despite early enthusiasm for angiogenesis inhibitors as safe and effective anticancer drugs, several Phase III and Phase II trials have proved disappointing. Newer strategies are however being developed which will hopefully confer greater efficacy to this field (for an analysis of pharmaceutical activity surrounding the development of angiogenesis inhibitors click here). SU11248 is one inhibitor of angiogenesis in development. Recent data demonstrates that SU11248 enhanced the therapeutic effect of radiation in mice with lung cancer xenografts. Of particular interest continued treatment with SU11248 after an initial combined treatment with radiation and SU11248 resulted in a prolonged and dramatic reduction in tumor growth...[more on these findings]

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A week in Drug Development - Our Tour of Industry Press Releases

New DiscoveryDossiers:

• Rheumatoid arthritis: Emerging drug discovery targets and therapeutic candidates [Click here]