Developments in drugs for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects more than 600 million adults worldwide and accounts for 3 million deaths annually. Approximately 50% of the cases are directly attributable to cigarette smoking; the rest are accounted for by different risk factors, including childhood infections, genetic defects, environmental pollution and biomass exposure. The mainstay of current drug treatment is bronchodilation. Anti-inflammatory drugs are reserved for patients with mode rate-to-severe disease. In this article, we will review the current paradigm of COPD pathogenesis and discuss some promising molecular targets that may be modified in the future to improve health outcomes of patients with COPD.