The rise of drug resistance presents a significant challenge in the treatment of infectious diseases. This Review summarizes the status and mechanisms of drug resistance in malaria, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and tuberculosis, and explores strategies to address resistance that could be incorporated into drug development across these disease areas.

RNA has revolutionized modern medicine, creating great expectations. However, challenges with this class of drugs persist. In this Review, John Androsavich analyses lessons learnt from RNA modalities such as antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNA), and discusses strategies to develop RNA drug platforms, improving their applicability, efficacy and safety profiles.

ADAR-based editors that can change the mRNA code offer new opportunities in both rare genetic diseases and common complex ones.

Immunogenic cell death (ICD) is crucial for the elicitation of anticancer immune responses by therapy, but the successful development of ICD-inducing treatments is hindered by various obstacles. This Review provides an overview of the core mechanisms of ICD, discusses obstacles to the development of novel ICD modulators and assesses established and innovative therapeutic approaches for ICD induction.

The passage of the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 in 2022 has provided additional impetus to develop new approach methods for predicting the effects of drug candidates in humans from models such as microphysiological systems based on human-derived induced pluripotent stem cells. Here, we highlight progress in the field and strategies to address various challenges, including the application of artificial intelligence tools.