NEW THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES FOR SEPSIS HAVE NOT fared well recently. In
January, Eisai announced that its worldwide phase 3 randomized trial of a novel anti–Toll-
like receptor (TLR)-4 compound, eritoran tetrasodium, had failed to demonstrate an
improvement in the primary end point of 28-day all-cause mortality in a cohort of 2000
patients with severe sepsis. 1 This news was disappointing, especially because the
manipulation of TLR4 signaling would represent a new avenue of research and drug …