Chemists devise a new way to manufacture peptide drugs, which hold promise for treating many diseases

MIT chemists have devised a way to rapidly combine amino acids into protein fragments known as peptides. Credit: Alexander Vinogradov

Small protein fragments, also called peptides, are promising as drugs because they can be designed for very specific functions inside living cells. Insulin and the HIV drug Fuzeon are some of the earliest successful examples, and peptide drugs are expected to become a $25 billion market by 2018.

However, a major bottleneck has prevented peptide drugs from reaching their full potential: Manufacturing the peptides takes several weeks, making it difficult to obtain large quantities, and to rapidly test their effectiveness.

That bottleneck may soon disappear: A team of MIT chemists and chemical engineers has designed a way to manufacture peptides in mere hours. The new system, described in the March 21st issue of journal ChemBioChem, could have a major impact on peptide drug development, says Bradley Pentelute, an assistant…