Unblinding the targets

ChemoCentryx Inc. has been tight-lipped about the targets of its chemokine-centered research, disclosing only the targets of its two partnered programs. The company is now ready to talk about its four proprietary programs, with all six small molecules expected to be in the clinic by the end of 2006.

The company's preclinical cancer program, which targets two chemokine receptors - CXCR4 and CXCR7 - is illustrative of the new inflammation paradigm, which is extending the role of inflammation into diseases not thought of as classically inflammatory. Separate compounds against each receptor are expected to enter the clinic late this year or, more likely, in early 2006...