The consequences of diseases involving the immune system such as AIDS, and chronic inflammatory diseases such as bronchial-asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis, now account for a considerable economic burden to governments worldwide. In response there has been an enormous research effort investigating the basic mechanisms underlying such diseases, and a tremendous drive to identify novel therapeutic applications for their prevention and treatment. Though a plethora of immunological studies have been published in recent years, little has been written about the implications of such research for drugs development. As a consequence, this area has not gained the prominence of other fields such as molecular pharmacology or neuropharmacology, and a focul information source for the many pharmacologists interested in diseases of the immune system remains unpublished.