Peptide drugs

The tides may by changing for peptide-based drugs, but it is hard to believe this premise based on the article "Changing Tides" (C&EN, July 17, page 23). While the article does a good job in reviewing advances in peptide manufacturing methods enabling increased capacities and cost efficiencies, the drivers behind these advancements are anecdotal. In the Phase III pipeline table, five of the 20 drugs listed are either newer formulations (insulin, calcitonin) or a new indication (leuprolide) of peptide drugs that have been on the market for many years.

This hardly reflects a robust pipeline of peptide-based drugs advancing as antimicrobial agents, vaccines, immunomodulatory compounds, radiopharmaceuticals, and imaging agents, to name a few. Advances in technologies to synthesize peptide-based compounds with increased stability and in vivo half-life, as well as improved drug delivery methods, have contributed to burgeoning activity in this field.

Carolyn L. Orthner
Birmingham, Ala.