Small molecular inhibitors for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: progress so far.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by persistent inflammation and joint damage. The main aim of RA treatment is to control the disease progress. Despite the success of biologicals like Adalimumab, Atlizumab, infliximab, etc. in treatment of RA, the high cost and associated immunological adverse effects have triggered discovery of small molecules targeting RA. This review describes the last 15 years of small molecular drug discovery in RA, focused mainly on preclinical and clinical studies.