Background: Today, there are more than 40 peptides on the pharmaceutical world market and more than 100 in several clinical phases. Although in the past the pharmaceutical industries had reduced their interest in peptides research, in recent decades, they have rekindled their interest in peptides as a result of contemporary novel technological accomplishments, strategic developments, advances in the areas of formulation and enhanced drug delivery technology of peptides. Thus, eight new peptide drugs that could previously have been characterized as difficult to prepare on the large scale required by industry, have entered the pharmaceutical market at the new millennium.
Discussion: The manufacturing of most of these drugs has benefited from new technological advances. Traditional and most modern techniques have been applied to the manufacture of these new entries.
Conclusion: Recent accomplishments, together with the traditional benefits of peptides (high biological activity, high specificity and low toxicity), have led pharmaceutical companies to re-focus their attention on peptide-based agents. Therefore, several serious diseases can be treated using the potential next generation of peptide drugs.