PEPTIDES TODAY IN THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY.

Today, a major factor driving interest in peptide therapeutics is macrocyclic peptides. They can target protein-protein interactions (PPIs) and other "non-pharmacological" targets due to their distinctive size and large binding surface area. Since 1920, when insulin produced from the pancreas of pigs and cows revolutionized the way diabetes was treated, bioactive peptides have been used in medicine. At first, only extracted organic peptides were used as drugs. Advances in peptide synthesis enabled the development of the first synthetic peptide drugs, oxytocin and vasopressin, in the 1950s. With the invention of solid-phase peptide synthesis in 1963, Merrifield revolutionized chemical synthesis. Almost all peptides could be accessed rapidly and reliably using this approach. The first recombinant medicinal peptides, such as insulin, came on the market twenty years later, when scientists discovered how to alter genes. Cohen, Bloom and Edwards observed a sharp increase in the use of peptide drugs in 1999, but could only recognize natural peptides. The search for new peptides for a wider range of targets became easier with the development of in vitro display techniques and advances in sequence synthesis libraries. The pharmacokinetic characteristics of peptides were also the subject of intense research. All these modifications led to an increase in the peptide market.

Currently, more than 80 peptides have been approved by the FDA and many others are undergoing human testing. These peptides treat numerous diseases, including cancer, endocrinology, metabolic, cardiovascular and bone diseases. Recent assessments analyze peptide industry trends and approvals. Improvements in peptide synthesis and a higher success rate of peptide pharmaceuticals in clinical development have led to a continuous 7.7% growth in approvals for the global peptide industry over the past decades, strengthening this trend.