Or it might be hitting its proper target (the enzyme gamma secretase) but in too blunt a fashion.

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All of the cholesterol drugs known as statins work by blocking the same drug target, a liver enzyme (enzymes are a kind of protein).

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The company had to engineer a chemical by mimicking the enzyme's target.

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Adding a sweet substance solves the problem of liver and kidney toxicity, allowing him to deliver safely a far more potent dose of relief that he suspects may target the COX-3 enzyme.

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Vane's research led drug companies to target pain by stopping the COX enzyme from producing prostaglandins.

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The hepatitis C protease is a particularly tough target because, unlike the similar enzyme in HIV, it has relatively few nooks and crevices into which to cram a druglike chemical.

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It is in a race with several companies that are taking aim at a novel target, a protein-chewing enzyme called DPP-4 (dipeptidylpeptidase 4) which plays a role in disrupting the production of insulin.

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Recent examples: molecules to target drug-resistant bacteria and a kinase inhibitor to zap the enzyme responsible for tumor growth.

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Thanks to innovative chemical treatments, the ball serves as a cage that hides the enzyme from the immune system until it gets to its target tumor, where an anti-cancer drug is released.

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And the machines can only test for one event at a time--say, monitoring one enzyme's activity or seeing if a compound binds to a target on a cell.

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