Swimming with the (pep)tides

Swimming with the (pep)tides

Stephen L. Gasior, Ph.D

You have probably heard of the type 2 diabetes and weight loss drugs Ozempic, Mounjaro, Rybelsus, Wegovy, and Saxenda. These are a recent entry into the drug market and are expected to be billion dollar blockbusters. But, they also represent a whole new class of drugs with even more potential for human therapy. This drug class is called peptides. Peptides are like little stubs of proteins made up of only several amino acids but are common signaling molecules in the body. But only recently has the chemistry come about to make them useful and stable drugs. This presentation will cover peptides in general then talk about the first 3 to market drugs including Bremelanotide and Afamelanotide.