More recent investigations have identified a key hormone produced in the gut, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) 7-37, which naturally stimulates pancreatic insulin secretion and helps restore the body’s response to it. This makes GLP-1 a very attractive candidate for anti-diabetes therapy, with a projected worldwide market of several billion $US /year.
Although a number of pharmaceutical companies have active GLP-1 programs, a major drawback to development of GLP-1-based therapeutics is its short circulating half-life of a few minutes, due to proteolysis and renal clearance. Thus, effective therapies must incorporate GLP-1 analogues stabilized against proteolysis while being formulated to counter renal clearance and thus avoid daily injections.
Activotec has applied its proprietary technologies in peptide backbone modification toward development of a set of modified GLP-1 analogues which have been stabilised against proteolysis, yet are at least as active as native GLP-1 in both promoting insulin release in cell assays and lowering blood glucose in small animal models. A poster of these studies will be displayed at the 29th European Peptide Symposium in Gdansk, Poland, 3-8 September.
These exciting results have led Activotec to investigate partnerships with biotechnology companies with an interest in this area with a view to forming collaborative partnerships to develop the products further.
For further information please contact Activotec on info@activotec.com or telephone on +44 1223 260008.