Peptide Chemistry



Peptide Chemistry

What is a peptide?
Peptides are chains of up to 50 amino acids. A chain of more than 50 amino acids is considered a protein. Like proteins, peptides are one of the basic biological building blocks, and occur naturally in all forms of life. In the human body, peptides perform a wide variety of important functions, including hormonal regulation and defense against infection. 

Peptides as drugs
Therapeutic peptides have become an important drug class, with more than 50 peptide drugs currently on the market with annual global sales exceeding, in aggregate, eleven billion US dollars, some with annual global sales in excess of one billion US dollars.

When compared with small molecule therapies, peptide therapeutics possess certain advantages, including:

  • higher activity and potency;
  • higher specificity towards their target
  • lower tendency toward adverse interactions with other drugs;
  • less accumulation in tissues
  • lower toxicity

Less favorable properties of peptides include:

  • shorter persistence in the human body due to enzymatic degradation
  • ineffective in tablet form
  • potential immunogenic or allergic reactions

Zealand Pharma’s Expertise: turning peptides into drugs
Zealand Pharma employs a systematic and integrated approach to peptide drug development. After identifying natural peptides likely to play a role in the Company's key therapeutic areas, specialists in disciplines including medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology, design, formulate and test novel peptide analogs. Molecular modeling and screening synthesis, as well as peptide modification and formulation techniques, such as the Company’s SIP® technology, are used, as appropriate, to enhance the therapeutic characteristics and stability of peptide drug candidates in order to turn them into commercially useful drugs. In parallel, Zealand Pharma’s intellectual property specialists work to obtain patent protection for new drug candidates.

The processes and techniques used by Zealand Pharma have enabled the Company to generate novel peptide drug candidates with enhanced biological activity, increased potency, a longer time of action when administered to humans and an extended shelf life, as compared to natural peptides.

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