Peptide and academics.Japanese Peptide Society is oldest in the world and recently concluded 43rd Japanese Peptide Symposium in the year 2006. European Peptide Society has recentlyconcluded 29th European Peptide Symposium in the year 2006. American Peptide Society will be conducting the 20th American Peptide Symposium in the year 2007. Australian Peptide Society will be conducting the 7th Australian Peptide Symposium in the year 2007. Indian Peptide Society formed in the year 2006 will be conducting the first Indian Peptide Symposium on 22nd - 23rd February, 2007.
Pharmaceutical compounds have been witnessing a gradual change and acceptance in the last 100 years from natural compounds to pure chemistry compounds to biotech products to specialized pharmaceuticals such as chiral compounds, peptide pharmaceuticals and monoclonal antibodies which includes genetically engineered products. The wide acceptance by the medical profession of the peptides has grown after the discovery of the insulin in the year 1921 - 22 at University of Toronto by Dr. Frederick Banting.
Vincent du vigneaud for the first time chemically synthesized oxytocin (a poly peptide) in the year 1955 and received Nobel Prize. Manufacturing of the peptides and its raw materials was potentiated in a very small way.The year 1963 witnessed and major impetus for the peptide pharmaceutical field for increased research in peptide drug discovery with discovery of Solid Phase Peptide Synthesizer by Dr Bruce Merrifield.
Of these, peptides are a versatile group of compounds as they have been identified to play a critical role in sustaining life by regulating harmonal and other metabolic activities of human and animal life.The progress in pharmaceutical and life sciences have culminated in understanding the role of peptides in human and animal physiology and metabolism.However a wide gap continues to exist in the understanding of scientific knowledge particularly with reference to metabolic disorders and progression of disease in human beings and animals.
Over the last three decades proteomics as an exclusive area of scientific research has developed to address the role of metabolically active proteins and their byproducts in human and animal metabolism.Peptide based drugs, their discovery, mode of action and targets have occupied a prime position in the field of proteomics.With the elaboration of the role of peptides in human and animal metabolism, Peptides now occupy a position of eminence in a range of industry including pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, diagnostics and disease investigative devices, cosmetics and food.
Peptides - Elegance & simplicity:
Peptides are simple but elegant compounds comprising of two or more amino acids bound together by an amide bond to from a chain of a defined sequence.They are ubiquitous in nature and perform critical role in metabolic activities of all life forms including humans, animals, plants and microbes.
Peptides can be synthesized virtually to any chosen sequence.The twenty naturally occurring amino acids conform chemically to the "L" configuration as biological systems can only assemble the "L" Amino acids.By adopting chemical synthesis many unnatural amino acid sequences as well as the "D" configuration can be produced.
These not so natural amino acid sequences or synthetic peptides exhibit very novel and interesting metabolic activities when used in natural situations and therefore have been investigated extensively as drug targets, nutraceuticals, cosmetics and other industrial applications.
The introduction of genomics and proteomics has drastically changed the process of drug discovery.Most of these focus on proteins or natural peptides. The development of large synthetic and biological peptides libraries in combination with high-throughput processes has facilitated research and development for clinical applications of peptides and this has enhanced the prospects of obtaining new drug candidates.
Oncology is the largest segment of global peptide market.The therapeutic peptides are now viable alternatives to the other existing drugs and antibodies especially for cancer treatment as they can penetrate tumors.The other main therapeutic segments identified are cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and disorders of the central nervous system.
Peptide based drugs
A wide array of drugs have been formulated based on peptide and list of such drugs are very impressive.Some of the widely known peptide drugs include lisinopril, leuprolide, desmopressin, oxtyocin, octreotide, goserelin, triptorelin, calcitocin etc. These drugs have very wide and varying applications in the prevention and treatment of cardio vascular, cancer, kidney, AIDS, hormonal, osteoporosis and other diseases.
Market trends
Currently more than forty peptide based products are in the market with a few (6) in the registration process.In Europe itself 4 peptide based drugs are in the market with 270 in clinical trials and 400 in pre clinical trails (Frost & Sullivan study).The market for peptide based drugs and API's has continued to expand and current Global Market is US $ 5 Billion.Market survey by Ernst and Young indicate that at least 20 peptide drugs are expected to be in the market in the near future.
The number of peptide based drugs in advanced clinical trials has grown significantly with their clinical application as diverse as analgesics to anticancer drugs.Some promising peptide drugs in the pipeline are for management of diabetes, auto immune disorders, imaging and cancer therapy.The other business opportunity for peptide based drugs is the fact that they are abandoning the concept of vertical integration and resorting to outsourcing of therapeutic products.
Novel delivery systems available for peptide drugs are yet another prospect for increased interest in peptides.There are a few blockbuster drug stories.One such is humolog for diabetes care which accounted for revenue of US $ 1.1 billion for the pharmaceutical giant Lilly.There is no doubt however, that peptides will continue to dominate the pharmaceutical industry in the near future and the opportunities offered by peptides will attract more and more interest in the research, pharmaceutical and the medical community.
Manufacturing scenario
The major manufacturing companies for the peptide formulations and peptide API's is concentrated in Western Europe and USA till the early 90's.The major players are Bachem, UCB, Diosynth, Peptisyntha and Polypeptide in Europe Mallinckrodt in USA.The post 90's has witnessed increased presence in Asia with Takeda and Fujisawa in Japan and Jupiter Bioscience Limited in India.
(The author is chairman & managing director, Jupiter Bioscience Limited, Hyderabad)