131002Proving the feasibility of IKKe inhibitors as therapeutics for treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)ClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKThis project aims to establish the feasibility of a new treatment for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – a highly debilitating condition that affects more than 200 million people worldwide and leads to over 6 million early deaths every year. The consequent social, economic, and health-care burden is huge. Treatment for COPD usually involves relieving the symptoms, for example by using drugs delived through an inhaler, or supplementary oxygen, to make breathing easier. However the novel therapeutic mechanism that will be pioneered by this programme will target the processes that cause the disease, which should significantly slow - or even halt - its progression. This key aspect differentiates this approach from that of existing drugs, and of many other experimental treatments.