Patent focus on agents for atherosclerosis: September 1999 - February 2000

Abstract

This focus summarises the most interesting patent disclosures with relevance to the treatment of atherosclerosis, which have appeared in the period between September 1999 and February 2000. With effective and safe treatment of elevated LDL-cholesterol now well established, the direction of new research is increasingly focusing on therapy for the developing atherosclerotic lesion. The role of HDL-C in the remediation of the lesion is becoming well accepted and HDL-C elevation is being actively pursued by a number of companies. Several new PPARα/γ agonists have been disclosed which underscores the continuing interest in these nuclear receptors. The understanding of the inflammation processes involved with lesion development is rapidly expanding and this is reflected in the increasing number of patent applications in this area.

• vbeta3 integrin
• ACAT
• atherosclerosis
• Chlamydia
• coronary heart disease
• COX-2
• HDL-cholesterol
• macrophage scavenger receptor
• LDL-cholesterol
• MTP
• phospholipase A2
• PPARalpha/gamma
• VLA-4