Peptide Drug Conjugates: The New Frontier Beyond Antibody Horizons!
Targeted cancer therapy has seen a renaissance in recent years, particularly with radiopharmaceuticals. Big Pharma has spent tens of billions in this niche field alone. But, peptides are ideally suited to be conjugated to many other types of warheads or generally active payloads, making the overall field of Peptide-Drug Conjugates (PDCs) exquisitely wide, and not limited to oncologic indications. These recent advances in PDCs seem to me (I admit, I have a preference for peptides) a logical step to overcome some of the complexity associated with ADC production and development. For example, peptides can be very well-controlled before and after payload conjugation with standard analytical techniques. Also, screening incredibly large and diverse peptide libraries for remarkable selectivity and specificity is a task that peptide researchers have mastered through a variety of innovative solutions. In this recent review on PDC recently published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, the authors navigate the advantages of PDCs relative to their Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) predecessors. They explore the various linkers, payloads, and overall design of PDCs, while presenting the next horizon for these modalities. For any peptide chemist familiar with the recent tidal wave of macrocycle peptide discovery efforts, it should be clear there is a promising stage set to further enhance the appeal and potential for peptides in drug development.
Link to open access article: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c00106
Zhang B, Wang M, Sun L, Liu J, Yin L, Xia M, Zhang L, Liu X, Cheng Y. Recent Advances in
Targeted Cancer Therapy: Are PDCs the Next Generation of ADCs? J Med Chem. 2024 Jul
25;67(14):11469-11487. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c00106
Christopher McGee, PhD
Member, BPF Scientific Advisory Board
www.linkedin.com/in/christopherjmcgee/
Read previous editions of the BPF Journal Club series: https://www.boulderpeptide.org/journal-club