Why Peptides?

Peptides are mediators of key biological functions and their intrinsic properties make them particularly attractive therapeutic agents. Peptides show high biological activity associated with low toxicity and high specificity. They exhibit little unspecific binding to molecular structures other than the desired target. Minimized drug-drug interactions and less accumulation in tissues reduces risks of complications due to intermediate metabolites. Finally, compared to small molecules, peptides offer valuable chemical and biological diversity on which intellectual property is still widely available.

Peptide API Market

Although peptide drugs have been on the market for decades, the pharmaceutical industry has concentrated on their development only in the last 10-15 years, primarily because of drug delivery problems. Now, with major progress in drug delivery, the market is expected to witness and strong and sustained growth. Currently there are more than 40 marketed peptides worldwide, around 270 peptides in clinical phase testing, and about 400 in advanced preclinical phases. Natural peptides such as insulin, vancomycin, oxytocin, and cyclosporine and synthetically produced ones such as Fuzeon (enfuvirtide) and Integrilin (eptifibatide) are among the approved peptide-based drugs. The global market for peptide-based active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is expected to expand at a "growth rate nearly double the growth rate for APIs overall.