ABSTRACT
There is a pressing need to develop new treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as no currently available drug has been shown to reduce the relentless progression of the disease. There is a particular need to develop drugs that suppress the underlying inflammatory and destructive processes that underlie this disease. These drugs are important for long-term intervention in COPD. Yet there have been disappointingly few therapeutic advances in the drug therapy of COPD, in contrast to the enormous advances made in asthma management that reflect a much better understanding of the underlying disease (1-3). Although COPD is commonly treated with drugs developed for asthma, this is often inappropriate as the inflammatory process in COPD differs markedly from that in asthma (4,5). Recognition of the global importance and rising prevalence of COPD and the absence of effective therapies has led to a concerted effort to develop new drugs for this disease (6,7).
