Investigative approaches to drug therapy

Abstract

Recently, there have been increasing number of novel therapeutic agents in development, and some of these are either planned or currently undergoing clinical trials. We will review some of these approaches under evaluation, and we will also discuss the extent to which some established agents that may have a broader effect on the disease process than was initially expected. Current approaches to disease-modifying therapy in scleroderma together with strategies that are in use to tackle individual complications of the disease are reviewed in other chapters. Immunomodulatory strategies are largely covered elsewhere and will not be a major focus of the current chapter.