Abstract: Fumaric acid amides of the general formula (I) wherein R1 represents OR3 or a D- or L-amino acid radical —NH—CHR4—COOH bonded via an amide bond, wherein R3 is hydrogen, a straight-chained or branched, optionally substituted C1-24 alkyl radical, a phenyl radical or C6-10 aralkyl radical and R4 is a side chain of a natural or synthetic amino acid and R2 represents a D- or L-amino acid radical —NH—CHR5—COOH bonded via an amide bond or a peptide radical comprising 2 to 100 amino acids bonded via an amide bond, wherein R5 is a side chain of a natural or synthetic amino acid, are used for preparing a drug (1) for the therapy of an autoimmune disease; (2) for use in transplantation medicine; (3) for the therapy of mitochondrial diseases; or (4) for the therapy of NF-kappaB mediated diseases.