Peptide drugs have their own advantages and disadvantages.
The advantages are:
(1) Most of the peptide drugs originate from endogenous peptides or other natural peptides, therefore, its structure is clear, the mechanism of action is clear;
(2) Compared with most general organic small molecule drugs, peptide drugs have outstanding characteristics such as high activity, small dosage of drugs, low toxic side effects, and amino acids;
(3) Compared with proteins, smaller peptides have almost no immunogenicity;
(4) Peptide drugs can be chemically synthesized, high purity of products, quality control.
The disadvantages are:
(1) easy to degrade, short half-life;
(2) Most can not be taken orally, generally for injections, the need to develop appropriate methods of administration;
(3) Large-scale synthesis, separation purification is difficult; (4) Large peptides have immunogenicity.