Opportunities for therapeutic antibodies directed at G-protein-coupled receptors
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 787 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.91
Authors: Catherine J. Hutchings, Markus Koglin, William C. Olson & Fiona H. Marshall
G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are activated by a diverse range of ligands, from large proteins and proteases to small peptides, metabolites, neurotransmitters and ions. They are expressed on all cells in the body and have key roles in physiology and homeostasis. As such, GPCRs are one (Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - July 14, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Catherine J. Hutchings Markus Koglin William C. Olson Fiona H. Marshall Tags: Review Source Type: research
Remyelination therapies: a new direction and challenge in multiple sclerosis
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 617 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.115
Authors: Jason R. Plemel, Wei-Qiao Liu & V. Wee Yong
Multiple sclerosis is characterized by inflammatory activity that results in destruction of the myelin sheaths that enwrap axons. The currently available medications for multiple sclerosis are predominantly immune-modulating and do not directly promote repair. White matter regeneration, or remyelination, is a new and exciting potential (Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - July 7, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Jason R. Plemel Wei-Qiao Liu V. Wee Yong Tags: Review Source Type: research
What is the right amount to spend on biopharma R & D?
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 597 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.114
Author: Michael S. Ringel
This analysis investigates whether some companies may be negatively affecting their overall commercial success by aiming to maintain steady earnings per share growth and/or a target ratio of R&D spending to sales. (Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - July 7, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Michael S. Ringel Tags: News and Analysis Source Type: research
Opportunities and challenges in phenotypic drug discovery: an industry perspective
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 531 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.111
Authors: John G. Moffat, Fabien Vincent, Jonathan A. Lee, Jörg Eder & Marco Prunotto
Phenotypic drug discovery (PDD) approaches do not rely on knowledge of the identity of a specific drug target or a hypothesis about its role in disease, in contrast to the target-based strategies that have been widely used in the pharmaceutical industry in the past three (Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - July 7, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: John G. Moffat Fabien Vincent Jonathan A. Lee J รถ rg Eder Marco Prunotto Tags: Perspectives Source Type: research
Market watch: Strategies for biosimilars in emerging markets
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 520 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.113
Author: Ajay Gautam
Biologic drugs remain inaccessible to most patients in emerging markets. Biosimilars represent a compelling proposition for patient affordability and access, and attractive value for governments in many of these countries. However, quality concerns, technology hurdles, lack of robust regulatory frameworks, and development timelines and costs (Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - July 7, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Ajay Gautam Tags: News and Analysis Source Type: research
Cancer immunotherapy: Macrophages steal the show
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 455 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.126
Author: M. Teresa Villanueva
The past decade has seen remarkable advances in tumour immunology due to extensive research on inhibition of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) — which is expressed on T cells — and its ligand PDL1, which is expressed on tumour cells. However, little is known (Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - June 29, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: M. Teresa Villanueva Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Transporters: Natural product provides alternative transport for iron
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 454 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.124
Author: Katie Kingwell
Deficiencies in passive ion-transport proteins give rise to a range of diseases, including anaemias, cystic fibrosis and cardiac arrhythmias. A recent paper in Science has demonstrated that a small-molecule natural product, hinokitiol, transports iron across cell membranes and restores iron handling in several animal (Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - June 29, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Katie Kingwell Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Cardiovascular disease: BET inhibitor attenuates heart failure
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 453 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.125
Author: Megan Cully
Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of mortality and hospitalization. Writing in Science Translational Medicine, Duan and colleagues demonstrate that inhibition of bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4), a member of the bromodomain and extraterminal domain (BET) family of epigenetic signalling proteins, reduces pathology and (Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - June 29, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Megan Cully Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Yong-Jun liu
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 450 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.127
Yong-Jun Liu is a drug discovery veteran with a career that has spanned both academia and industry. Since 2002 he has overseen drug discovery programmes at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor Research Institute and AstraZeneca's biologics company MedImmune. He added another large pharma firm to this roster in 2016, when he joined Sanofi as head of research. Sanofi's president of global R&D Elias Zerhouni prioritized the development-stage pipeline during the first years of his tenure at the company, but brought Liu on bo...
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - June 29, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: News and Analysis Source Type: research
Biotech R & D spending continues to rise
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 447 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.130
Author: Asher Mullard
Biotech R&D spending hit US$45.7 billion in 2016, up 12% from 2015, found an annual analysis of the sector by consulting firm EY (see Fig. 1). This was the seventh consecutive year that these firms increased their cumulative R&D spending, and the second consecutive (Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - June 29, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Asher Mullard Tags: News and Analysis Source Type: research
Finding fault with Bial's fatal FAAH inhibitor
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 447 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.129
Author: Asher Mullard
In January 2016, a phase I trial of Bial's oral analgesic BIA 10-2474 killed one volunteer and caused brain damage in four others. The fatal effects of the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor may have been caused by off-target activity on several lipases, (Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - June 29, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Asher Mullard Tags: News and Analysis Source Type: research
Genetic biomarker trumps tissue type in landmark oncology approval
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 447 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.128
Author: Asher Mullard
The FDA granted accelerated approval to Merck & Co.'s PD1 blocker pembrolizumab for all cancers with a specific genetic biomarker, regardless of which tissue type is involved. “This is an important first for the cancer community,” said the FDA's Richard Pazdur, acting director of the (Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - June 29, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Asher Mullard Tags: News and Analysis Source Type: research
Chinese biopharma starts feeding the global pipeline
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 443 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.94
Author: Asher Mullard
A handful of discovered-in-China candidates have entered the global clinic, including a few first-in-class contenders. (Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - June 29, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Asher Mullard Tags: News and Analysis Source Type: research
Ageing: Old bone removal
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 456 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.123
Author: M. Teresa Villanueva
Senescent cells (SNCs), which accumulate in many tissues with age, contribute to several age-related pathologies. Now, Elisseeff and colleagues have shown that the selective elimination of SNCs with a specific inhibitor (UBX0101) of the anti-apoptotic protein mouse double minute 2 (MDM2) can prevent and even (Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - June 16, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: M. Teresa Villanueva Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
G Protein-Coupled Receptors: Crystal structure of glucagon family receptors
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 16, 456 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.120
Author: Sarah Crunkhorn
The class B G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), glucagon receptor (GCGR) and glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP1R), have key roles in glucose homeostasis and therefore represent valuable drug targets for diabetes. Zhang et al. now report the crystal structure of the full-length human GCGR in (Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - June 16, 2017 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Sarah Crunkhorn Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
