Peptides, typically consisting of short chains of amino acids (2-50) connected by peptide bonds, play crucial roles in the human body, encompassing functions such as metabolic regulation, antimicrobial defense, and vascular activity. Since the discovery of insulin, peptides have garnered significant interest as therapeutic agents, with over 80 peptide drugs now available across various therapeutic areas. Larger than small molecules (MW mostly <500), Peptide drugs (MW mostly >1000) offer advantages such as high binding affinity, selectivity, and potency, with predictable metabolism and non-toxic metabolites. peptide drugs have successfully targeted challenges previously considered undruggable, like protein-protein interactions. Much smaller than biologics (MW of full-length antibody 150,000), Recent macrocyclic peptide drug candidates, like MK-0616 and LUNA-18 from mRNA display, show promising oral bioavailability which was once thought impossible for peptide drugs. As unnatural amino acids with favorable physiochemical properties become more accessible, peptide drugs might overcome hurdles to achieve oral bioavailability and penetrate the blood-brain barrier, capabilities that are currently beyond reach for large molecules such as antibody drugs.

The flourish of peptide therapy relies heavily on breakthroughs in peptide discovery technologies, notably display technologies. Among these, mRNA display stands out as a revolutionary method for discovering peptide binders. PeptiFinder Biotech offers premier mRNA display-centered platform services, featuring trillion diversity libraries (including linear, mono-cyclic, and bi-cyclic), capable of identifying potent peptide binders (hits) for your specific targets within a month. Moreover, PeptiFinder can design and screen customized libraries up to 10^15, tailored to your specific requirements. This facilitates the rapid identification of potent peptide binders for specific targets, incorporating unnatural amino acids to tailor physiochemical properties and expedite the Hit-to-Lead process.

TIDES Japan 2024 / ACS Med. Chem. Lett. 2022, 13, 9, 1379–1383 / J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 30, 16610–16620