Drug development strategies for asthma: in search of a new paradigm.
The spiraling costs of asthma treatment seem set to continue rising, given the equivocal performance of the latest generation of specific anti-inflammatory drugs in trials in adult asthmatics. We argue that the continuation of this trend is inevitable unless there is a substantial realignment of entrenched drug development policy in the pharmaceutical industry and a parallel shift in licensing policy by regulatory authorities to encourage the development of drugs capable of halting the progression from acute to chronic asthma when the disease first manifests in childhood. The theoretical framework for such an approach, including proof-of-principle data from studies in children with early-stage disease and a range of candidate drugs, already exists. What is needed is informed debate on the risks versus potential benefits of this approach.
Holt
Patrick G
PG
Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, and Centre for Child Health Research, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia. patrick@ichr.uwa.edu.au
Sly
Peter D
PD
Martinez
Fernando D
FD
Weiss
Scott T
ST
Björkstén
Bengt
B
von Mutius
Erika
E
Wahn
Ulrich
U
D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018450:Disease Progression; D015195:Drug Design; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology