Glycan Therapeutics: Resurrecting an Almost Pharma‐Forgotten Drug Class (Adv. Therap. 8/2018)

Abstract

Despite their enormous potential, glycans as therapeutics yet remain a widelyuntapped drug class. This overview shares the viewpoint that glycans havebeen aptly termed the “dark matter” of biology and have thus been largelyignored for decades. Provided herein is a background on the multiplestructures and functions of glycan therapeutics, and focuses on examples andcase studies of the glycan therapeutics in clinical use or in a clinicaldevelopment. Perspectives on various hurdles are also provided, such asregulatory or scientific messaging and how these can influence the clinicaldevelopment of this drug category. Finally some of the necessary changes inperception, education, and research infrastructure for continued support andadvancement of this promising category of therapeutics are described.