WATCHING PEPTIDE DRUGS GROW UP

IMAGINE A CONVERSATION BETWEEN A small molecule and a peptide on a make-believe pharmacological playground. The small molecule would tout its virtues of small size, low price, oral availability, ability to cross membranes, and straightforward synthesis. The peptide would respond: "True, I maybe bigger, more expensive to synthesize, and less stable than you. I may clear faster from the body and usually need to be injected rather than swallowed as a pill. But I can be much more potent, show higher specificity, and have few toxicology problems. I also don't accumulate in organs or face drug-drug interaction challenges like you do. So there." Throughout the body, peptides are active regulators and information brokers with skill sets that make them interesting for drug discovery. Himanshu Parmar, an analyst at Frost & Sullivan (F&S) and author of an analysis of the therapeutic peptides market, says chemical and biological diversity alongside high specificity, affinity, and molecular recognition are ...