Peptide is a compound formed by linking multiple amino acids together by peptide bonds

Peptide is a compound formed by linking multiple amino acids together by peptide bonds.

It is connected in the same way as a protein. Usually, a molecule containing less than 100 amino acids is called a polypeptide, and those with more than 100 amino acids are called peptides.

Called protein. Polypeptides are biologically active substances involved in various cell functions in organisms, and are indispensable participants in life activities.

They involve hormones, nerves, cell growth and reproduction and other fields, and extensively participate in and regulate the functions of various systems, organs and cells in the body. . Scientific research has confirmed that various human endocrine hormones, from thyroxine, pituitary hormones, insulin, neuropeptides, enkephalins, growth factors, to gonadotropins, luteinizing hormones, etc., are all polypeptide substances.

Peptide drugs are specific applications of peptides in the field of medicine.

They are a new class of drugs whose molecular size is between small molecule drugs (MW<500) and protein drugs (MW>10000), and they have some of the characteristics of both.

Compared with protein drugs such as monoclonal antibody drugs and recombinant protein drugs, peptide drugs have the advantages of simpler spatial structure, higher stability, lower immunogenicity or no immunogenicity. At the same time, they have strong specificity and curative effect of protein drugs. Good features: Compared with small molecule drugs, peptide drugs have advantages in biological activity, specificity and solving complex diseases. At the same time, the production and preparation methods of peptide drugs have the same points as small molecule drugs, with controllable quality and structure.

It is easy to verify and low cost. In short, the quality control level of peptide drugs is close to small molecule chemical drugs, and the activity is close to protein drugs. Combining the advantages of both, it has its own advantages in clinical application and production and preparation, and is suitable for solving small molecule chemistry. Complex diseases that are difficult to solve with drugs, including metabolic diseases, tumors, etc.

Although the research and development process of peptide drugs is similar to that of traditional small molecule drugs, there are unique differences in process design, preparation methods, structural confirmation, quality research, R&D and production equipment, etc., especially from laboratory gram-scale preparation and scale-up to several kilograms in the commercial stage High-level production capacity is difficult, so large-scale production has become the key to the commercialization of peptide drugs.

The company uses chemical synthesis to develop and produce peptide drugs. Its main business relies on the large-scale process R&D and production capabilities of peptides based on peptide synthesis and modification technology. Products and services cover peptide drugs from the drug screening stage to pre-clinical The complete life cycle from research phase, clinical research phase to commercialization phase.

The quality control level of peptide drugs is close to small molecule chemical drugs, and the activity is close to protein drugs. Combining the advantages of the two, it shows its own superiority in clinical application and production and preparation, with high activity, low dose, and low dose.

The advantages of toxicity, etc., are suitable for solving complex diseases that are difficult to solve by small molecule chemical drugs. However, polypeptide drugs also have the disadvantages of high production cost and inconvenient administration. The large-scale production of peptide drugs is difficult.

At present, chemical synthesis is the main way for the large-scale production of peptide drugs. As of 2017, there are more than 80 peptide drugs on the market worldwide, of which more than 60 are mainly produced by chemical synthesis methods. The chemical synthesis method is fast and flexible, but the cost of scale-up production is higher.

The international market for some large varieties of APIs is as high as 25% per kilogram. 10,000-500,000 US dollars, the cost of a small variety of raw materials is thousands of US dollars per gram, and the price is relatively high.

Because of the large molecular weight and short half-life of peptide drugs, they are easily decomposed by enzymes in the body and are difficult to absorb through the digestive system. Therefore, they are usually administered by injection, which leads to the inconvenience of self-injection and long-term frequent injections that cause suffering to patients.

Based on the above characteristics of peptide drugs, it is currently mainly used in acute and chronic diseases. The drugs in this field are generally surgical treatment, which is injected intravenously by doctors and nurses, and is a one-time treatment.

There is no problem of inconvenience in administration, and long-term administration is not required. Patients have a high degree of acceptance of drug prices.

At present, octreotide acetate, somatostatin, and terlipressin acetate are used for emergency hemostasis of the digestive tract, and bivarudine, eptifibatide, and nesiride are used for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Peptides, carbetocin used in obstetrics, etc. are all such drugs. For chronic diseases, peptide drugs have a greater competitive advantage when some traditional drugs are not effective, and they are widely used in immunity, diabetes, orthopedics, tumors, and rare diseases lacking treatment methods. According to data from the Yaodu database, as of 2017, there have been more than 80 peptide drugs approved by the US FDA or EU EMA for marketing worldwide.

Among the approved peptide drugs, the number of anti-tumor drugs is the largest (accounting for 30%), followed by the digestive tract. Areas (14%), diabetes areas (13%) and rare diseases (11%).