Anti-inflammatory drug development focusing on immune mediated diseases

world population (Bieber et al, 2023). Among these the inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes mellitus, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, and myasthenia gravis are prominent ones. The ever-increasing number of senior citizens (age >60 years) across the globe and the advent of newer and better diagnostic tools for immune-mediated diseases has produced an increase in the incidence of inflammatory diseases. While the general population grew from one billion in the year 1800 to eight billion at present, and it is estimated that by 2030 one in six people in world will be aged sixty or older (Bolkan et al., 2023;Pereira et al., 2023). In addition to this, studies suggest that there is an increased risk of developing immune-mediated diseases to the individuals who got SARS-CoV-2 infections (Kim et al, 2024). Despite the great advances in the treatment of these medical conditions in recent past, many patients suffer with serious conditions of the disease for a long time. This situation demands constant research, to identify new drugs, with more specific targets and fewer side effects to treat inflammatory diseases (Wang et al, 2015).In Brazil, despite the guarantee of free access to medicines through the Unified Health System for all citizens as a constitutional right, immune-mediated diseases represent a significant challenge. This is due to its complexity and the lack of adequate resources for early diagnosis and effective treatment. For example, one of the main obstacles to the accurate diagnosis of rheumatological diseases in Brazil is the shortage of specialized professionals. Recent data indicates that 53.3% of the all the rheumatologists in the country live in the capitals of state in the southeast region; 16.8% live in the very populous northeast region, while only 4.1% of medical professionals reside in the north region. This data represents the heterogeneity in the territorial distribution of professionals in Brazil, a developing country. Furthermore, the lack of adequate medical training for those who work in primary care can lead to diagnostic errors or delays in referral to specialists, which ends up worsening the health condition, with irreversible damage to patients (Scheffer et al, 2023;BRAZIL, 2021). The same kind of situation is prevalent in almost all the developing or underdeveloped countries where most of the advance medical facilities are concentrated to affluent and populous cities and rural areas are devoid of such facilities. Despite the existence of specific clinical protocols for treatment, there is a great difficulty in the diagnosis for immune disease due to complex definition of diagnostic criteria, leading to severe impact on the quality of life of affected individuals (Dal Lin et al, 2023). In this scenario, the discovery of new molecules capable of treating diseases mediated by the immune system remains fundamental.Identification of new natural products, synthetic molecules, drug repurposing, in silico molecular modelling studies associated with chemical synthesis represent important strategies for the development of new drugs (Wainwright et al, 2022;Spitschak et al, 2022). The global demand for new drugs and the associated scientific challenges were motivations for this special edition, with the aim to bring together scientific research works that addressed the development of new immunomodulatory drugs. As a result, we have very interesting articles, coming from different research aspects, which lead us to believe that they will be very useful in discovering new treatments for inflammatory diseases in near future.The study "A real-world disproportionality analysis of mepolizumab based on the FDA adverse event reporting system" investigated adverse events associated with mepolizumab in the treatment of severe asthma with an eosinophilic phenotype. Reports of expected adverse events were identified, but also unexpected ones, such as coughing, malaise and chest discomfort, recommending continued attention to safety in long-term use and in paediatrics. In conclusion, the field of anti-inflammatory drug development for immune mediated diseases is evolving rapidly and breath-taking research, supported by innovative techniques is giving transformative breakthroughs and cutting-edge solutions.However, despite the current research diversity with this edition and optimism for the future, inflammatory diseases are known for their complexity and will remain an intriguing challenge for researchers for future studies too.