Afatinib, an irreversible inhibitor of the ErbB family of tyrosine kinases, is under development with Boehringer Ingelheim for the once-daily, oral treatment of cancer. Afatinib downregulates ErbB signalling by covalently binding to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER) 2 and HER4, irreversibly inhibiting tyrosine kinase autophosphorylation. It also inhibits transphosphorylation of HER3. Oral afatinib (Gilotrif™) has been approved in the US for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have tumours with EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 (L858R) substitution mutations as detected by a US FDA-approved test. Afatinib has also been approved in Taiwan for the first-line treatment of patients with EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC. In addition, the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended the approval of afatinib (Giotrif®) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC with activating EGFR mutations who are EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor naïve. Afatinib is also under regulatory review in Canada, Japan and other Asian countries. This article summarizes the milestones in the development of afatinib, leading to this first approval in patients with metastatic NSCLC.

Kyowa Hakko Kirin is developing istradefylline, a selective adenosine A2A receptor antagonist, for the once-daily oral treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD). Adenosine A2A receptors are considered to be present particularly in the basal ganglia of the brain; the degeneration or abnormality observed in PD is believed to occur in the basal ganglia, which is recognized to play a significant role in motor control. Commercially available dopamine replacement therapies effectively treat the early motor symptoms of PD; however, these agents are associated with development of motor complications, limiting usefulness in late stages of the disease. Istradefylline is proposed to possess a clearly distinct action site from existing agents which act on dopamine metabolism or dopamine receptors. Kyowa Hakko Kirin has received approval for istradefylline in the adjunctive treatment of PD in Japan. A New Drug Application was filed in the USA, but the FDA issued a non-approvable letter in February 2008. This article summarizes the milestones in the development of istradefylline leading to its first approval for the treatment of patients with PD.

Ipragliflozin (Suglat® [Japan]), an orally active, next-generation sodium-glucose transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, has been developed by Astellas Pharma and Kotobuki Pharmaceutical for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Ipragliflozin has received its first global approval in this indication in Japan, for use as monotherapy or in combination with another antihyperglycaemic agent (metformin, pioglitazone, a sulfonylurea, an α-glucosidase inhibitor, a dipeptidylpeptidase-4 inhibitor or nateglinide). Ipragliflozin is the first SGLT2 inhibitor to be approved in Japan. This article summarizes the milestones in the development of ipragliflozin leading to this first approval for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.