On July 10, 2021, the "Peptide Drug Development & Innovation Training Workshop", hosted by Nanjing Anji Biotech Co., Ltd. and guided by the School of Life Science and Technology of China Pharmaceutical University and the Jiangsu Synthetic Peptide Drug Discovery and Evaluation Engineering Center, was successfully held at the Vision Hotel in Nanjing. The conference brought together more than 200 experts, scholars, enterprise representatives, industry partners, researchers and academic luminaries, who engaged in in-depth exchanges to drive the steady development of the peptide industry and jointly build a grand blueprint for it.
At the workshop, Hanmei Xu, Jiawei Hu, Yingrui Li and Rongjian Lu delivered in-depth analyses and discussions on topics including peptide drug discovery and druggability evaluation, US-China regulatory registration of peptide drugs, peptidomics and chip technology, and peptide-conjugated drug development.
• Rich Content
During the session, Prof. Hanmei Xu, CEO of Nanjing Anji Biotech, first interacted with the audience on the roles and research status of peptide drugs, including their sources, targets, advantages and disadvantages. She also shared profound insights into peptide discovery and design - including natural active peptides, discovery based on peptide libraries and protein functional domains, and their molecular design and modification - and, drawing on topics such as cell-penetrating peptides and peptide-drug conjugates, pointed out the challenges and future directions for peptide drugs.
Subsequently, Mr. Jiawei Hu gave a keynote speech focusing on peptide drug R&D in China and abroad, engaging the attendees in lively discussion and excellent sharing on production, quality management issues, regulatory requirements and the development prospects of peptide drugs. He also offered unique perspectives on peptide drug research, production, quality control and regulation in light of the current state of China's peptide industry.
Afterwards, Mr. Yingrui Li, co-founder of iCarbonX, discussed peptide chips and chip technology, analyzing the latest advances in peptide chips as a core area of biochip technology, comparing their differences and advantages over protein chips in data acquisition and accuracy, and emphasizing their broad application prospects and market potential in drug R&D, clinical detection and basic research in biotechnology.
Next, Mr. Rongjian Lu, CTO of Frontier Biotechnologies Inc., shared the latest progress in peptide-drug conjugate (PDC) R&D in China and abroad, pointing out the advantages of PDC drugs over traditional small molecules and biologics in achieving targeted therapy, the stronger tumor-penetration characteristics of ADC drugs compared with PDC drugs, and how PDC drugs are gradually becoming a hot spot in pharmaceutical R&D thanks to their lower production costs and broad indications.
• Round-table Discussion
Finally, in the round-table discussion session, centered on the theme "Peptide Innovation: Opportunities and Challenges", invited guests Mr. Yangming Tang, Vice President (R&D) of Shenzhen Hybio Pharmaceutical, and Mr. Liangyou Wang, Chief Engineer of Tianji Biopharmaceutical of Suzhou Tianma Pharmaceutical Group, joined the participants in vigorous discussion on the future direction of peptide drug development, how to practice innovation, and how to leverage AI technology to advance peptide drug R&D.
• Enthusiastic Q&A
During the Q&A session, numerous attendees actively asked questions about the specific content of the presentations, igniting the academic atmosphere of the entire conference.
Through the discussions at this conference, the R&D strength of local enterprises in the peptide field was fully demonstrated. It is believed that, with strong national policy support, the development of the industry will be greatly accelerated. As a key field of China's biopharmaceutical innovation, peptide drugs will undoubtedly maintain a sound development trend, with great potential to be tapped and a broad market to grow.
