New Drugs for Immune Targeting

Although over the years an improved understanding in the etiology of Graves' orbitopathy has been obtained, conventional medical therapy for the treatment of this autoimmune disorder has changed very little and remains essentially based on approaches of non-specific immunosuppression. There is great potential for this to change as novel disease-modifying therapies have been developed which have been proven effective in the treatment of other autoimmune inflammatory disorders. These recent developments offer a strong rationale to evaluate such immune-targeting drugs for the treatment of Graves' orbitopathy. This article provides an overview on new drugs that act specifically on the pathogenic immune-mechanisms of the disease that are currently being developed for autoimmune disorders and could be considered for use to treat Graves' orbitopathy including immune-interventions that inhibit lymphocyte responses through depletion or modulation, and block cytokine secretion or action.