The emergence of peptides in the pharmaceutical business: From exploration to exploitation

This minireview touches upon the challenges and opportunities peptides experience on the track to become an approved pharmaceutical. Peptide attributes originally considered troublesome with respect to drug development may now turn out to be more convenient rather than unfavourable. Besides characteristic high target affinity, biological peptides often exhibit higher than expected stability. Clearly natural selective pressure has optimised these biomolecules beyond what can be anticipated solely on the basis of their chemical nature. This concept is gradually finding its way into the pharma and biotech industry, as illustrated by a rise in medicinal peptide patent applications and developmental work.