8 stories
Oral peptide formulations have been the long-running drug-delivery challenge in the field. Most peptides degrade in the gut or fail to cross the intestinal epithelium at therapeutic dose. The successful examples — oral semaglutide, oral Wegovy — depend on salt-permeation enhancers like SNAC.
Programmes covered on this site: oral semaglutide and oral Wegovy, Vivtex's permeability platforms, Biocon's oral insulin work, Boehringer's gut-targeted peptide formulations, and the small-molecule oral GLP-1 alternatives (Foundayo / orforglipron) that sidestep the peptide-stability problem altogether.
Stories here cover platform readouts and the partnership deals around them. See #oral-peptide for the singular tag and #drug-delivery for broader delivery technology.
Verdiva Bio will present two posters at ADA 2026 on its obesity pipeline: VRB-103, a once-weekly oral amylin-receptor-selective analog, and VRB-104, a unimolecular GLP-1 plus amylin co-agonist. The preclinical data extend the amylin and oral-peptide push from a well-funded newer entrant, as the obesity field broadens beyond incretin monotherapy toward amylin-based and oral approaches.
A study from Christian Heinis's lab, published June 1 in Nature Chemical Biology, screened a library of 15,360 random cyclic peptides for the rare ability to cross cell membranes, then refined a lead (Peptide 30, 890.6 daltons) that blocked the intracellular Keap1-Nrf2 interaction in living cells. By engineering lower charge, fewer hydrogen-bond donors, and smaller polar surface area, the approach reaches targets inside cells without starting from a known ligand, a route toward peptide drugs that can be taken orally.
Syneron Bio, a Beijing-based macrocyclic peptide drug discovery company, closed a $150 million Series B led by an international life-science fund with co-leads Decheng Capital and CDH VGC, roughly four months after a $100 million Series A. Investors include a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Qiming Venture Partners, and existing shareholder AstraZeneca, whose 2025 platform partnership carried $75 million upfront and near-term payments plus up to $3.4 billion in milestones. The raise reflects continued investor appetite for macrocyclic and oral peptide platforms, alongside Pinnacle Medicines' $89 million round.
AJMC ran a consumer-grade FAQ on oral peptides covering bioavailability (typically <1% even with optimized formulations), delivery technologies (SNAC for oral semaglutide, liposomal systems, lipidation as in liraglutide and insulin detemir), and the safety distinction between FDA-approved oral peptides and the wave of unverified products. The piece sits alongside the AMA's late-April primer on injectable peptides and STAT, Scientific American, Washington Post, and ABC News coverage from earlier in the year — collectively building the public-facing safety narrative ahead of the July 23–24 PCAC meeting. The FAQ explicitly flags the FDA expert-panel review and the gap between Category 2 removal and FDA approval.
The Drug Discovery Chemistry Oral & Macrocyclic Peptides Summit (April 14-15, San Diego) convenes as 66 cyclic peptide drugs have gained global approval and the field races to solve oral bioavailability. Key advances include Chugai's Luna18 achieving 21-47% oral bioavailability and Merck's macrocyclic PCSK9 inhibitor enlicitide delivering injectable-level results in pill form.
A comprehensive review in Frontiers in Drug Delivery examines the barriers to oral peptide bioavailability — enzymatic degradation, poor membrane permeability, and first-pass metabolism — and maps emerging solutions including permeation enhancers, nanoparticle encapsulation, mucoadhesive systems, and microRNA-based approaches that are advancing toward clinical translation.
OrbiMed-incubated startup revealed $89M in funding to develop oral peptide drugs with biologic-level efficacy. Lead program targets asthma and is on track for clinical trials.
Pinnacle closed an oversubscribed $89M Series B (total $134M) to advance AI-driven oral peptide therapeutics into clinical trials, focusing on immunology and cardiometabolic diseases.