Inflammatory diseases are caused by abnormal immune responses such as immune system turning on itself to attack the very tissues it has evolved to protect.  Seemingly unrelated disorders such as asthma, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel diseases and rheumatoid arthritis all have common inflammatory elements that underlie the disease process.

Each inflammatory disease has distinct therapeutic needs that are not adequately served by current prevention and treatment strategies.  Although inflammation is the unifying factor, the specific treatment approach required for each type of inflammatory disease may be unique to that patient population. Many of the therapies available today are palliative rather than curative, directed to the symptoms rather than to the underlying causes of inflammation.

Important inflammatory diseases include:

These represent major areas of unmet medical needs. Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common and rapidly growing respiratory disorders. Through better scientific characterization of inflammatory disease processes, new therapies are already beginning to shift medical practice from palliative treatment of disease symptoms toward disease modification, with hopes for complete disease control in select patients. Millennium researchers are working on the front lines of this revolution in the management of inflammatory diseases.