title: New renal drug development to face chronic renal disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  For the first time in 2012, chronic kidney diseases were added to WHO disease list because of their impact on morbidity/mortality and their substantial impact on the cost to the health care system. Although representing a clear unmet medical need and a huge business case for the pharmaceutical industry, its clinical treatment still mainly relies on drugs invented in the 1980s used for controlling blood pressure.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this review, the authors aim to elucidate why renal drug development is feasible today. The article provides a particular focus on the treatments that target the pathways involved in inflammation, fibrosis and the core mechanisms driving the vicious cycle responsible for disease progression and organ function loss.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Currently, it is plausible to develop effective therapeutics for renal diseases with a plethora of approaches available for their development at a preclinical and clinical level. Furthermore, the relevance of biomarkers and the use of surrogate rare disease indications as proof of mechanism for faster and/or smaller clinical development are now possible; and these developments could revolutionize the way we treat renal disease in the future.
authors.affiliation: University Hospital Geneva, Institute of Clinical Pathology , Geneva , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Solange
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moll
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meier
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Formentini
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pomposiello
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prunotto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D035583:Rare Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*
keywords: chronic kidney disease; diabetic kidney disease; drug discovery; fibrosis; inflammation; renal diseases