The 11(th) Annual Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry in Eastern England provided an excellent forum for the presentation of new material. This year's lectures covered the identification and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of asthma (GW-215864X, GW-250495X, CT-5219, CT-5627), immunosuppressants (AR-C70651XX, AR-C95650XX, AR-C110228XX, AR-C124908XX, AR-C123221XX, AR-C125190XX), infectious diseases (SB-225666, SB-227943, SB-252619; Ro-32-4931, Ro-32-6896, Ro-32-6888) and CNS disorders (UK-203368, UK-240255, UK-142455, UK-155261; L-811619, L-830844, L-838751, L-838912, L-838913), and highlighted some of the pitfalls that can bedevil drug development programs.