BioCentury
ARTICLE | Product Development

The heart of inflammation

October 11, 2004 7:00 AM UTC

Inflammation is a complex network of interactions that arises in response to tissue injury, regardless of the site or nature of the initiating event. Despite this virtual omnipresence of the inflammatory process throughout the body, therapeutic applications of anti-inflammatory compounds have traditionally focused on a relatively narrow set of diseases. However, new research has led to a paradigm shift that is focusing on the intersection between inflammation biology and new disease areas.

This paradigm shift already is particularly evident in cardiovascular disease. For example, Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. recently merged its cardiology and inflammation departments because of the overlap in biology between the two areas. In addition, several companies, including one in the most recent IPO class, have focused efforts to reprofile anti-inflammatory compounds to treat cardiovascular disease. ...