The compound targeted the protein kinase C-alpha, one of a family of 13 known proteins that relay information from one to another.

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Researchers weren't focusing on leukemia, but one compound they produced could disable the defective protein made by the CML gene.

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Harvard University researchers conducted experiments on mice using oligomers, a soluble form of amyloid-beta protein, which is the key compound in brain plaque and a hallmark of Alzheimer's.

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Vertex, instead, takes a machine-gun approach, designing thousands of compounds to test them against hundreds of potentially disease-causing proteins--all at once, and before scientists even know which protein might be a good target or which compound might actually work.

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The clincher: Once a prototype drug works against one kinase, Vertex figures it can easily tweak the compound to inhibit other siblings in the kinase family--and then attack other protein groups, as well.

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This binding process stimulates production of a protein called interleukin-10 (IL-10) that acts as an anti-inflammatory compound and which helps keep the immune system's response to the infection in check.

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