ABSTRACT
For decades corticosteroids and other immunomodulatory agents have been the cornerstone of therapy for inflammatory conditions. These other immunomodulatory agents are often referred to as diseasemodifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), which include not only anti-metabolites like methotrexate, azathioprine and leflunomide, but also gold salts, D-penicillamine, some “antimalarials” (chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine), as well as sulfasalazine. The successful development of targeted biologic agents, specifically monoclonal antibodies and recombinant receptor fusion proteins, as anti-inflammatory therapies for allergic and autoimmune diseases over the past decade has not only revolutionized options for patients with these disorders, but also begun to further elucidate the underlying pathology. Though at
present there are only a handful of approved biologics for these chronic immunologic diseases, this area of pharmaceutical research and development is rapidly growing.
