Inflammation and Allergy Drug Design and Discovery

The incidence of allergic diseases, including bronchial asthma, atopic dermatitis, and allergic rhinitis, has dramatically increased in recent decades, especially in urban and industrialized areas. Various agents against allergic diseases are now available, and show significant effects. However, there still exist several problems in the present treatments; side effects, unresponsive patients, and unnecessary administration of agents. Therefore, it is medically and socially important to develop an agent targeting a molecule correlated with the pathogenesis of allergic diseases and administer such an agent based on the pathogenesis of each patient. Allergic diseases are complex disorders in which a lot of cells and mediators are involved. Various attempts to improve or cure allergic diseases targeting particular cells or mediators are now underway. In this session, several trials to find mediators involved in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases and to develop agents targeting such mediators will be presented.