IRBM & collaborators publish on techniques for characterizing peptides in Type 2 diabetes and a peptide drug discovery program for Huntington’s disease

Nowadays, there is a strong drive to explore new areas of chemical space in search of innovative ways to bind and modulate challenging biological targets. At IRBM our peptide chemistry team has extensive expertise in peptide and macrocyclic drug discovery in various therapeutic areas. Our highly experienced research scientists are proud to share their two newest publications. One, with collaborators from the University of Tor Vergata, is in the journal Soft Matter. It is on the characterization, by spectroscopic analysis and molecular dynamics simulations, of the oligomerization and aggregation properties of semaglutide, a pioneering therapeutic peptide recently approved for treating Type 2 diabetes. Such characterization is key to developing long acting and stable drugs. The other paper, with collaborators from the CHDI Foundation, in the journal Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, investigated ways to optimize peptide leads giving insights for the design of macrocycles, peptido-mimetics and small neutral brain-penetrating molecules for treating Huntingtons disease.