INFLAMMATION RESEARCH: NEW HORIZONS AND TRANSLATIONAL CHALLENGES HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SOCIETY OF MEDICINES RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM, HELD ON JUNE 5TH, 2014 - GLAXOSMITHKLINE, STEVENAGE, UK

Inflammation is part of a complex biological response of tissues to stimuli such as pathogens, irritants and damaged cells. It is one of the most fundamental and well-studied pathological mechanisms. Still, after decades of research in both academia and industry there remains a high unmet need for effective antiinflammatory therapies. In addition, recent studies have highlighted that in a variety of chronic conditions, inflammation is not just a mere bystander, but an integral part of pathology that is likely to contribute to disease progression and fatality. One of the major challenges in drug discovery is to harness available data and generate approaches that have the promise to translate from bench to bedside. This meeting brought together a number of key opinion leaders from both industry and academia to outline the current thinking about inflammatory processes and how they may be tackled to bring benefit to patients.