Most   current cancer therapies,   including chemotherapeutic agents, work by inducing apoptosis (programmed cell death) in cancer cells.  However, many cancer cells are resistant or develop resistance to these agents.  A promising new direction for drug development involves approaches designed to overcome treatment resistance due to over-expression of anti-apoptotic genes or downregulation of pro-apoptotic genes.

Apoptotic drugs in anticancer development were identified using a wide variety of sources, including Biophoenix's proprietary company database, various online databases, the scientific literature, academic and company websites, company press releases, web-based news searches, industry newsletters, and conference proceedings.

This survey, updated and published in July 2010, provides  key  information  on  138  targeted apoptotic  drugs  in  anticancer development by a total of  104  companies. These drugs are directed at the products of one or more of over 40 genes involved in the biological process and/or the signalling pathway of apoptosis.

Apoptotic anticancer drugs are characterized in terms of their target(s), development status, originator company/licensee, therapy type, mode of action, and indication.

33 pages, 10 tables

Table of Contents

Introduction 4
Gene targets of apoptotic drugs 5
Table 1 Overview of drugs with apoptotic targets in anticancer development 5
TNF family and death receptors as drug targets 14
Table 2 TNF family and death receptor agents in anticancer development 16
Caspases as drug targets 17
Table 3 Caspase agents in anticancer development 17
BCL2 family as drug targets 18
Table 4 BCL2 family agents in anticancer development 20
Inhibitors of apoptosis (IAPs) as drug targets 21
Table 5 IAP and regulator agents in anticancer development 22
Transcription factors as drug targets 23
Table 6 Transcription factor and regulator agents in anticancer development 24
Kinases in the PI3K/AKT pathway as drug targets 25
Table 7 PI3K/AKT kinase agents in anticancer development 26
Histone deacetylases as drug targets 27
Table 8 Histone deacetylase agents in anticancer development 28
Proteasome inhibitors as drug targets 30
Table 9 Proteasome inhibitors in anticancer development 31
Heat shock protein (HSP) inhibitors as drug targets 31
Table 10 Heat shock protein inhibitors in anticancer development 31