Peptide1 based drugs are at the heart of Ferring’s R&D activities and the history of the company. In the human body, peptides along with hormones and proteins control various biological processes such as autocrine, paracrine and endocrine functions. Peptides are valuable tools in drug design and discovery because they provide a link between a gene and its function.
Ferring’s centre of excellence for peptide research [url: "/en/randd/Creating+New+Medicines/Ferrings+expertise/Peptides.htm" ] is located in San Diego [url: "/en/randd/RandD+Centres/San+Diego.htm" ], at the heart of the Southern California biomedical community, the fastest-growing biopharmaceutical cluster in the United States. Ferring peptide technology [url: "/en/randd/Creating+New+Medicines/Ferrings+expertise/Peptides.htm#peptec" ] and know-how is focused improving naturally-occurring peptides and hormones, by keeping their key advantages and injecting “drug-like” features in the molecules.
In recent years, Ferring research has identified five new peptide products [url: "/en/randd/Creating+New+Medicines/Ferrings+expertise/Peptides.htm" ] (new chemical entities, NCEs), now at various stages of development, either in house or through partners. As a result, Ferring has today the largest portfolio of peptide therapeutics in the industry, marketed or in its R&D pipeline, for vasopressin2 (desmopressin, terlipressin, FE 202158), oxytocin (carbetocin, atosiban, barusiban) and GnRH (LHRH, triptorelin, degarelix).