ImmuPharma PLC (LON:IMM) said peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications has carried an article assessing the potential of Urelix, a technology developed by its subsidiary Ureka.
The periodical has described for the first time the unique properties of oligourea foldamers as tools to improve the pharmaceutical properties of peptides.
There are more than 7,000 naturally occurring peptides that have crucial roles in human physiology, including actions as hormones, neurotransmitters and growth factors.
Around 140 peptide therapeutics are currently being developed, while currently around 60 have been approved by the US Food & Drug Administration generating sales last year of US$30bn.
However, as Dimitri Dimitriou, ImmuPharma's chief executive, pointed out: “Using natural peptides as drugs is not so effective because they are quickly broken down.
“To put it simply, our technology overcomes these challenges and represents an intelligent way to design novel drugs.”
One of the first areas of focus for the Ureka researchers has been lookalikes for GLP-1, the basis of a number of drugs used to treat type II diabetes and non-alcoholic liver disease.
Scientists are also assessing the potential of using the Urelix to develop cancer drug candidates and as means of improving products already on the market.
The work of the Ureka began in 2014 and the ImmuPharma offshoot has a tie-up with France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.