BioCentury
ARTICLE | Targets & Mechanisms

IL-17 inhibitors: good news, bad news

August 15, 2013 7:00 AM UTC

New partnerships and release of Phase III data highlight a flurry of activity this summer around the autoimmune target IL-17A. Now, emerging research suggests companies developing inhibitors of IL-17A signaling have both a repurposing opportunity and a new safety concern to navigate.

Findings by the Genentech Inc. unit of Roche suggest IL-17A inhibitors could treat cancers that are resistant to VEGF inhibitors.1 However, an academic team from Sweden and the U.S. reported that blocking IL-17A can destabilize atherosclerotic plaques and thus increase the risk of cardiovascular events.2...