Obesity Drug Discovery: Success and Challenges for a New Pharmaceutical MarketDecision ResourcesJune 15, 2005 25 Pages - SKU: DECR1186757 |
| In recent years, obesity has become a major health problem for many postindustrial societies, so much so that in 2004, the United States Health and Human Services declared obesity to be a disease. Obesity poses a major health risk because it greatly increases the risk of comorbidities such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, arthritis, and cancer. Recognizing the potential for a new blockbuster market, major pharmaceutical companies have increasingly focused on obesity and its causes, in the process identifying many potential targets and pathways that could be exploited to create novel therapies. Studies on the molecular mechanisms involved in obesity are revealing a complex set of pathways, feedback loops, hormones, and metabolites that integrate multiple physiological systems in the brain, gastrointestinal system, endocrine system, and metabolic systems. The challenge for obesity drug discovery is that drugs must compete against powerful physiological and behavioral factors that have been selected by evolution to favor feeding and energy storage. In this report, we provide a detailed discussion of the mechanics of obesity and its comorbidities, as well as the targets and pathways identified as points of intervention by investigational obesity drugs. We will also examine directions being pursued in obesity research and development and corporate alliances and activities in the field. Please note: the PDF e-mail from publisher version of this report is for a global site license. |
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