Celgene Designs New Series Of Anti-Inflammatories

Scientists working for Celgene Corp, a US company specializing in small-molecule chemistry for the drug industry, have announced the development of a new series of proprietary anti-inflammatory and immunomodulating compounds based on the chemical structure of thalidomide.

The series has been shown to increase immunological activity in human blood cell-based assays for anti-inflammatory activity. The Celgene scientists' presentation at a national meeting of the American Society in Chicago also indicated that the new compounds are orally bioavailable in rodents and appear to be less toxic in preliminary testing. In addition, these compounds have been effective in limited testing in a mouse septic shock model.

The aim of the Celgene research project is to create highly-potent new drugs for reducing bodily production of tumor necrosis factor alpha, a hormone-like protein known to play a key role in inflammatory and immunological conditions of several serious disease states such as cachexia, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, leprosy, inflammatory bowel disease and graft-versus-host disease.