Drugs for Eczema

The majority of drugs used in dermatology were not initially developed for the skin but are spin-offs from drug development in other fields, e.g. corticosteroids, antibiotics. At the time of writing, the concept of developing an agent specifically for the treatment of eczema is somewhat underworked. Thus, the approach that has been taken here is to present a brief overview of the issues which need to be considered rather than a finely detailed commentary on research methodologies. The latter would be premature in the case of drug development for eczema, in view of the poor definition of pathogenesis and the relatively unrefined status of most volunteer models that could be relevant to the drug development process. However, a range of measurement techniques that may be applicable to eczema research are mentioned and referenced below, and are described in detail in the chapter ‘Measurement of Skin Responses to Drugs’. A selection of volunteer models is also briefly presented and commented upon. The major aim is to provide the reader with an overall plan for the drug development process in eczema and to stimulate him/her to further develop the range of available techniques and models in a critical and logical manner, thus helping to bring dermatopharmacology into line with the more advanced areas of drug research and development. It is hoped that, in the future, problem-orientated drug development for skin diseases will result in the production of a new generation of agents with optimised dermatological benefits.